Syrian Beancaper

Galala desert, North Sinai.

Egypt, west Asia.

Desert plains.

Perennial.

Perennial, 50-100 cm tall, glabrous, erect herb. Branches divaricate, striate, basal shoots spreading, upper ones ascending. Leaves pinnately bifoliolate, petiole 12-15(-20) mm long, somewhat flattened; stipules ovate-elliptic, 5-10 mm long; leaflets obovate-oblong, 15-26 mm long, 10-18 mm broad, oblique at the base, obtuse or retuse at the apex. Flowers yellowish, c. 10 mm across; pedicels spreading, c. 6-8 mm long. Sepals 5, oblong or somewhat ovate-elliptic, 6-7 mm long, 3.5-4.5 mm broad, obtuse, margin membranous. Petals 5, obovate, as long and broad as sepals, apex obtuse or slightly retuse, orange red at the base. Stamens with 10-12 mm long filaments, scales linear-oblong, lacerate, c. 5 mm long, orange-red, papillate. Carpels 5; ovary c. 4 mm long, 5-angled, 5-loculed, locules multiovulate; style as long as ovary. Capsule oblong-cylindric, becoming pendulous, 20-35 mm long, 4-6 mm broad, glabrous. Seeds oblong, compressed, c. 3 mm long, tuberculate, shining.

Herbs, perennial, 30-80 cm tall. Roots thick. Stems much branched, woody at basal parts, spreading to prostrate, smooth. Stipules ovate, elliptic, or lanceolate, 4-10 mm, connate on basal stems, distinct and smaller on apical stems. Leaves with 2 leaflets; petiole shorter than leaflets; leaflet blades obovate to oblong-obovate, 1.5-3.3 × 0.6-2 cm, thick, apex rounded. Flower axillary. Pedicel 4-10 mm. Sepals ovate to elliptic, 6-8 × 3-4 mm, margin white and membranous, apex obtuse. Petals basally orangish red and apically white, obovate, as long as sepals. Stamens longer than petals, 1.1-1.2 cm; appendages oblong, half as long as anthers. Capsule oblong to cylindric, 2-3.5 × 0.4-0.5 cm, pendulous, with 5 ridges. Seeds numerous, ca. 3 × 2 mm, surface with dots. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Sep. 2n = 22, 28.

Distribution: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Romania, Russia, Arabia, North Africa and naturalized in Spain, France and Sardinia.

Fl. Per.: May-September.

Alluvial plains, oases, wet sand, wastelands. NW Gansu, W Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Xinjiang [Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Turkmenistan; N Africa, W Asia, SE Europe].

Zygophyllum fabago subsp. dolichocarpum Popov; Z. fabago subsp. orientale Borissova.

Zygophyllum fabago is a species of plant known by the common name Syrian bean-caper. It is considered a noxious weed of economic importance in much of the western United States. It is native to Asia and East Europe (Russia and Ukraine) and Southeast Europe (Romania).