Melhania muricata Balf.f.
For people
- Eaten by people
- Unknown
- Toxic to people
- Unknown
For livestock
- Grazed by livestock
- Unknown
- Toxic to livestock
- Unknown
Edibility and safety notes
No reliable information was found on whether people can eat any part of this plant, or on any toxicity; it should be treated as not edible. The Omani field guide lists it simply as a grazing plant, but no independent source describing which animals eat it or how readily was found.
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 small shrublet or subshrub, usually up to about 0.4-0.5 m tall, with erect to ascending branches; young stems are shortly tomentose. Leaves are pubescent to tomentose with stellate hairs. Flowers are borne mostly singly, with petals 4-7 mm long, recorded as yellow on the type collection. The seeds are conspicuously tuberculate. (The Arabic description on this page, of a shrub up to 3 m, does not match this species; see the owner note.)
Habitat
Hill slopes, mountain foothills and stony or rocky wadi beds in arid and semi-arid shrubland.
Distribution
North-eastern Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Socotra and the southern Arabian Peninsula, including Oman.
Pastoral value
Listed as a grazing plant in the Omani field guide; no further details are documented.
Other uses
No significant traditional or economic uses documented.
Sources
- الدليل الحقلي المصور للنباتات البرية في سلطنة عُمان (BOOK.pdf p.192)
- GBIF backbone — Melhania muricata Balf.fil. (accepted, Malvaceae) — api.gbif.org
- GBIF occurrences of Melhania muricata in Oman (32 records, incl. Dhofar) — api.gbif.org
- Wikipedia — Melhania (species list with distributions) — en.wikipedia.org
- JSTOR Global Plants — Flora of Tropical East Africa / Flora of Somalia entries for Melhania (seen in search results) — plants.jstor.org
- Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh herbarium — Melhania muricata type specimen E00033992 — data.rbge.org.uk
- Wikipedia — Grewia tenax (for comparison with the Arabic description) — en.wikipedia.org
From the same family
All in this family
Malvaceae
منكاع، المنقاع، التلمان
Abutilon pannosum (G.Forst.) Schltdl.
Malvaceae
شرحم، ضام، حرطوت، حرشام
Grewia erythraea Schweinf.
Malvaceae
Common Mallow, Dwarf Mallow, Cheeseweed, Buttonweed
Malva neglecta Waller.
Malvaceae
Small-flowered Mallow, Cheeseweed Mallow, Little Mallow, Marshmallow Weed
Malva parviflora L.