Maerua crassifolia Forssk
Habit : A small tree or a shrub, usually with a rounded canopy, trimmed flat at base by camels grazing upon it. Twigs woody, spreading, tapering to narrow tips, the older with usually densely arranged short spurs, the younger showing signs of spur-formation while quite young
Leaves : singly arranged on young shoots while forming dense clusters at the spurs on older branches, shortly petiolate, simple, elliptical to obovate to spathulate, thick, pubescent to glabrescent, obtuse to retuse, sometimes acute
Flowers : The branches densely surrounded with shortly-pedicelled flowers in spring, the flowers in clusters of 1-several flowers on the spurs in the leaf- axils on the spurs. Hypanthium tubular. Sepals green to greenish yellow, finely pubescent on the outside like the hypanthium, oblong to ovate to obovate, obtuse to acute Petals absent.Stamens many, crumpled in the bud, the crumpling persisting on opening of flowers or usually the stamens well-exposed on white, filamets especially with the sepals reflexed; the stamens borne a short to rather prominent androphore Gynophore longer than the stamens, much more prominent when .the stamens remain crumpled on flower opening
.Fruit : moniliform torulose , indehiscent green , pubescent segments
.Distribution : North Africa, Tropical central and East Africa, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, UAE, Oman, Iran, Pakistan