Anogeissus dhofarica A.J. Scott
السغوت، الميشطة، المشط
For people
- Eaten by people
- Not edible
- Toxic to people
- Unknown
For livestock
- Grazed by livestock
- Good fodder
- Toxic to livestock
- Not toxic
Edibility and safety notes
No food use by people was found in any source; it is not a food plant. The foliage is an important fodder for camels, cattle and goats in Dhofar, especially in the dry season after the monsoon, and no livestock poisoning is reported. Leaves are used externally in folk practice (washing, wound paste); there are no human safety data, so it should not be eaten or drunk.
This guide is a hobby project, not expert advice. Never eat a wild plant, or feed it to animals, on the strength of this page alone. Read the disclaimer
Description
A drought-deciduous tree up to about 12 m tall, sometimes reduced to a shrub by browsing and cutting. Bark rough, scaly and dark brown; young shoots reddish brown and finely hairy. Leaves opposite or nearly so, elliptic to obovate, 15-55 mm long, green turning bluish green before they fall at the start of the dry season (November-December); the tree comes into leaf again with the summer monsoon. Flowers small, yellow, without petals, in dense globose heads about 1.5 cm across. Fruits small, two-winged and beaked, packed in dense cone-like heads. Flowers July-August.
Habitat
Found in monsoon-affected coastal mountains as continuous woodland belts and in isolated scattered woodland patches. Character species of drought-deciduous monsoon forest communities.
Distribution
Endemic to the southern Arabian Peninsula, specifically the Dhofar region of southern Oman and the eastern Al-Mahra region of south-east Yemen.
Pastoral value
Browsed by livestock, especially after the monsoon (khareef) season; pastoralists rely on it in the dry season.
Other uses
The wood is used as building material and the leaves are collected for a yellow to yellowish-green dye. In Dhofar the leaves are traditionally soaked in water for washing and personal hygiene, and applied as a paste around wounds and sores. The species is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN and is threatened by habitat loss and overgrazing.
Sources
- الدليل الحقلي المصور للنباتات البرية في سلطنة عُمان (BOOK.pdf p.83)
- Plants of the World Online — Anogeissus dhofarica A.J.Scott — powo.science.kew.org
- Wikipedia — Terminalia dhofarica — en.wikipedia.org
- PMC — study of Anogeissus dhofarica extracts (traditional uses, fodder, description) — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- British Omani Society — Dhofar brochure (cloud forest dominated by Anogeissus dhofarica) — britishomani.org
- Ball et al. 2020, Applied Vegetation Science — livestock browsing in Dhofar cloud forest — kar.kent.ac.uk