Halothamnus somalensis is a species of the plant genus Halothamnus

Halothamnus

Halothamnus is a genus of the former Chenopodiaceae that is now included into the family Amaranthaceae. The scientific name means saltbush, from the Greek ἅλς "salt" and θαμνος "bush"...

, that is now included into the family Amaranthaceae

Amaranthaceae

The flowering plant family Amaranthaceae, the Amaranth family, contains about 176 genera and 2,400 species.- Description :Most of these species are herbs or subshrubs; very few are trees or climbers. Some species are succulent....

, (formerly Chenopodiaceae

Chenopodiaceae

Chenopodiaceae were a family of flowering plants, also called the Goosefoot Family. They are now included within family Amaranthaceae. The vast majority of Chenopods are weeds, and many are salt and drought tolerant. A few food crops also belong to the family: spinach, beets, chard, quinoa, and...

).

Morphology

Halothamnus somalensis is a thorny shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 30–90 cm high, with olive-green branches, that partly turn black when drying. The semiterete, tiny leaves are appressed to the branches, and only 0,5–3 mm long. The flowers are 3,0-4,7 mm long. The winged fruit is 8-12,5 mm in diameter, their wings never turning black even on blackened plants. The bottom of the fruit tube has very small linear grooves located near the periphery, lacking any prominent radial veins.

Anatomy

Halothamnus somalensis has epidermis

Epidermis (botany)

The epidermis is a single-layered group of cells that covers plants' leaves, flowers, roots and stems. It forms a boundary between the plant and the external environment. The epidermis serves several functions, it protects against water loss, regulates gas exchange, secretes metabolic compounds,...

 walls with an outer cutin

Cutin

Cutin is one of two waxy polymers that are the main components of the plant cuticle, which covers all aerial surfaces of plants. The other major cuticle polymer is cutan, which is much more readily preserved in the fossil record,...

ized layer in addition to the cuticle

Cuticle

A cuticle , or cuticula, is a term used for any of a variety of tough but flexible, non-mineral outer coverings of an organism, or parts of an organism, that provide protection. Various types of "cuticles" are non-homologous; differing in their origin, structure, function, and chemical composition...

 itself. It is the only species of the genus that shows this anatomical feature.

Distribution

Halothamnus somalensis is endemic in Djibouti

Djibouti

Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...

, Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

 and dry areas of Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

. Similar plants from the Arabian peninsula belong to Halothamnus bottae

Halothamnus bottae

Halothamnus bottae is a species of the plant genus Halothamnus, that is now included into the family Amaranthaceae, .- Morphology :...

ssp. niger. It grows in in open thorny savanna

Savanna

A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...

 on sandy, clayey or rocky ground, from 0–1750 m above sea level.

Uses

The roots of Halothamnus somalensis are traditionally used as a medicine plant against parasitic worm

Parasitic worm

Parasitic worms or helminths are a division of eukaryoticparasites that, unlike external parasites such as lice and fleas, live inside their host. They are worm-like organisms that live and feed off living hosts, receiving nourishment and protection while disrupting their hosts' nutrient...

diseases in animals or humans.

Taxonomy

Halothamnus somalensis (N.E.Br.) Botsch., Bot. Mater. Gerb. Bot. Inst. Komarova Akad. Nauk SSSR 18, 1981, p. 151.

Synonyms

Salsola somalensis N.E.Br., Bull. Misc. Inform. 2: 50, 1909.

Salsola bottae (Jaub. & Spach) Boiss. var. faurotii Franchet, J. Bot. (Morot) 1,9: 134, 1887.

Salsola bottae (Jaub. & Spach) Boiss. var. farinulenta Chiov., Ann. Bot. (Rome) 9,2: 131, 1911.

Vernacular names

Somalia: GOWSA-MADOWBEYI, GOSO-MUDO-WEYI, GUSOMADOBEYE, GOSAMA DO BEYA, MIRGI-EDALIS, MIMOU

Djibouti: YAGALI

External links

• Schweizerbart Bibliotheca Botanica Bd. 143 Webpage