hirsuta (L.) Endl. Thymelaea hirsuta (L.) Endl. hirsuta L.

Arabic: Mithnane French: Passerine hirsute

Status, conservation and culture It is much picked for use, and is sold in all herbal- Compiled by: Dr. Driss Lamnauer ists’ and in local markets. It is of no grazing Edited by: Prof. Kamal Batanouny interest; its stems are used to make brooms for sweeping because they are flexible and tough. Morphological description It is a perennial not more than 1 m. high, Part used whitish tomentose and much branched. The leaves Branches and ashes. are small overlapping scales, with a cottony upper side and glabrous beneath. The flowers are small Traditional medicine with a pale white corolla. The perigone, with obtuse Thymelaea hirsuta is used as a purgative and to oval divisions, is caducous and dry at the end. Flow- reduce the swelling of abscesses. It is also used in ering extends over a long period of the year. veterinary medicine as a cure for colds in ewes. It is of little grazing interest because of its toxicity. Geographical distribution Local: Not abundant in the north, fairly common in References central and southern Tunisia and the Kerkennah Chaieb M. et M. Boukhris, 1998 : Flore succincte et Isles and Jerba. illustrée des zones arides et sahariennes de Regional: From Morocco to Egypt. Tunisie. ATPNE, Sfax. 290 p. Global: The Mediterranean: from Spain to Greece Ferchichi A . 1997 : Contribution à l’étude caryolo- and Turkey; southern side from Morocco to Egypt; gique, caryosystématique, morpho-biologique et Near East: Lebanon and Palestine. écologique de la flore de la Tunisie présaharien- ne. Doctorat d’Etat ; Fac. des Sc. de Tunis. 214p. Ecology Le Floc’h E. 1983 : Contribution à une étude ethno- It develops especially in the arid bioclimate stage, botanique de la flore tunisienne. Programme mild and hot winter variant; on different types of Flore et Végétation tunisienne. Min. de l’En. soil: sandy and sandy-silty and stabilized coastal Sup. et de la Rech. Sci. 387 p. dunes. It is a dominant species in several groups of Ministère de l’Environnement et de l’Aménagement the steppes in the arid stage, like the association du Territoire 1996 : Plantes Naturelles du Sud with Lygeum spartum and Thymeleae hirsuta. Its Tunisien. Programme Main verte. 223 p. distribution is helped by strong human action; in Nabli M. A. 1989: Essai de synthèse sur la végéta- this case it can form a pastoral degradation facies tion et la phytoécologie tunisiennes. Flore tuni- for many associations and subassociations like sienne 4 à 6. MAB. Fac. des Sc. de Tunis 247P. those described for the Kerkennah Islands. It also Pottier Alapetite G., 1979 : Flore de la Tunisie. colonises waste land that has formerly been culti- Angiospermes- dicotylédones, Apétales - vated in silty areas, and can appear in a ruderal Dialypétales. Programme flore et végétation situation. tunisiennes. . 655 p.

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