Alhagi maurorum
camel thorn, caspian manna, Persian manna
often intricately branched, greenish, strigose to glabrate;
sterile branchlets thorn-tipped, these subtended by leaves or not, 1–5 cm.
stipules caducous, subulate to lanceolate-ovate, 0.5–3 mm;
leaflet blade linear, elliptic, oblanceolate to narrowly obovate, or oblong, 3–35 × 1–12 mm, surfaces usually minutely red-dotted.
simple;
axis prolonged as a thorn;
bracts subulate, 0.5–1 mm.
1–2 mm.
calyx persistent, 2–3.2 mm, glabrous;
lobes connate or distinct, subequal, 0.2–0.5 mm (shorter than tube), relatively broad, margins sometimes puberulent;
petals distinct, 7–9.5 mm.
yellowish to greenish brown or dark brown.
0.5–3 cm, usually breaking between seeds;
stipes nearly as long as calyx.
= 16.
Alhagi maurorum
The stems and leaves of North American plants may be glabrous or pubescent, sometimes densely so. Young growth is almost always densely strigose; older stems and leaves may be essentially glabrous. The calyces and fruits are glabrous.
Alhagi maurorum is a state listed weed in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. Eradication programs have eliminated most populations in California (J. M. DiTomaso and E. A. Healy 2007).
For a discussion of the choice of a specific epithet for the plants growing in North America see D. Isely (1998) and R. C. Barneby (1989). C. S. Awmack and J. M. Lock (2002) have divided Alhagi maurorum into two subspecies based in part on indument of the ovary and the shape of the calyx. These traits are variable. North American plants belong to subsp. maurorum.
Alhagi camelorum Fischer is an illegitimate name that pertains here.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
