Cleome rupicola Vicary
مقيبل الشمس، خميسة
For people
- Eaten by people
- Unknown
- Toxic to people
- Unknown
For livestock
- Grazed by livestock
- Not grazed
- Toxic to livestock
- Unknown
Edibility and safety notes
No reliable information was found on whether people can eat this plant or whether it is poisonous, so it should not be eaten. A whole-plant extract is recorded in the UAE as a traditional eye remedy; this is folk use, not a sign of safety. The Omani field guide records it as not grazed by livestock; no source was found on toxicity to animals.
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
An erect perennial herb with a woody base, branched from below, 20-50 cm tall and glandular all over, especially in the upper parts. Leaves simple, ovate to obovate, entire, with three palmate nerves, 1-3.5 cm long and 0.5-2 cm wide, on petioles 1-3 cm long; upper leaves smaller and narrower. Flowers 6-8 mm across in glandular racemes; petals 5-8 mm, yellow and usually dark or purple-veined; stamens six. Fruit a pendulous, striate, oblong-linear capsule 2-4 cm long and 4-7 mm wide. Flowers from February to April.
Habitat
Rocky and gravelly wadi beds, gravel plains, rocky slopes and scree, and roadsides.
Distribution
Native to the Arabian Peninsula to Pakistan. Found in the Gulf States, Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Pakistan.
Pastoral value
Not grazed, according to the Omani field guide.
Other uses
In the United Arab Emirates an extract of the whole plant is recorded as traditionally used as eye drops for cataract. This is a folk use, not medical advice.
Sources
- الدليل الحقلي المصور للنباتات البرية في سلطنة عُمان (BOOK.pdf p.65)
- UAE Flora — Cleome rupicola (Spider Flower) — uaeflora.ae
- Plants of the World Online — Cleome rupicola Vicary — powo.science.kew.org
- UAE National Red List — Cleome rupicola — nationalredlist.org
- RBGE herbarium specimen E00187146 — Cleome rupicola, Dibba Plain — data.rbge.org.uk
- eFlora of India — Cleome rupicola (photos from Oman) — efloraofindia.com
