Flora

Cynomorium coccineum L., it is a holoparasitic geophyte perennial, giving off strong odour of putrefaction, deep red when young and blackish purple when flowering. It has a very distinctive appearance, much of it being underground, and is a parasite, using suckers to attach itself to Chenopodiaceous roots. Its rhizome is branched, scaly, with big fleshy 10-20-cm. stems, not branched, with several scales, ending in a club shaped inflorescence made up of little rudimentary contracted cymes. The flowers are either male, with a rudimentary ovary, or hermaphrodite, but all have a single stamen and 1-5 perianths over the ovary. The fruits are tiny black achenes with a tough pericarp in a persistent perigone.

Flowering in: Al the year.

Al-Jafarah Plain:  Zuara 1977

Sirte Plains:  Sirte 2015, 2016

Benghazi Plain:  Tra Bir Ackein, Msus by Pampanini

Jabal Nafusa:  Reported from Nalut by Keith  (24 km) from Mizda 1977

Al-Jabal Al-Akhder:  Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar 2021

Marmarica Plateau:  Reported from Tobruk by Keith

Ghadames area:  Reported from Ghadames by Keith

Ghat area:   Reported from Ghat by Keith

Wild in Libya, desert species in saline area parasitic on Suaeda sp., etc., medicinal plant.

This species is accepted: https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:103330-1

Link of images: https://www.floraofqatar.com/cynomorium_coccineum.htm,   https://flora.org.il/en/plants/CYNCOC/,  https://www.teline.fr/en/photos/balanophoraceae/cynomorium-coccineum

https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:103330-1, https://www.ipni.org/n/103330-1,   https://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000934734  https://www.gbif.org/species/7445043,  https://africanplantdatabase.ch/en/nomen/specie/132216/cynomorium-coccineum-l,   https://www.maltawildplants.com/CYNM/Cynomorium_coccineum.php,  https://www.teline.fr/en/photos/balanophoraceae/cynomorium-coccineum,    https://www.ksanature.com/plants/cynomorium_coccineum/,    https://www.floraofqatar.com/cynomorium_coccineum.htm.     https://flora.org.il/en/plants/CYNCOC/,  https://academic.oup.com/botlinnean/article/120/3/279/2607906,   https://botany.cz/en/cynomorium-coccineum/,   https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/10/3/53