Kingdom Plantae Family Amaranthaceae Genus Halothamnus Rank Species | Order Caryophyllales Subfamily Salsoloideae Scientific name Halothamnus iranicus | |
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Similar Halothamnus hierochunticus, Halothamnus subaphyllus, Halothamnus glaucus, Halothamnus auriculus, Halothamnus | ||
Halothamnus iranicus is a species of the plant genus Halothamnus, that belongs to the subfamily Salsoloideae of the family Amaranthaceae, (formerly Chenopodiaceae). It occurs in Southwest Asia.
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Morphology
Halothamnus iranicus is a sub-shrub up to 45 cm high and 100 cm in diameter, with blueish-green branches. It smells unpleasantly like rancid butter. The leaves are linear to triangular-ovate, and up to 11 mm long. The flowers are at 1–6 mm distance from each other, 3,2-4,2 mm long, longer than their bract and bracteoles, with oblong-ovate tepals. The stigmas are tapering towards the apex. The winged fruit is 7–11 mm in diameter, their wings inserting at 1/3 of the fruit height. The fruit tube is nearly cylindrical, with narrow, sharp-edged peripheral rim and small, ovate pits.
Distribution
Halothamnus iranicus is endemic in southern Iran and in southwest Pakistan (Baluchistan). It grows in habitats with a mild winter climate, on rocky, stony, partly salty soils, from 0–930 m above sea level.
Taxonomy
Halothamnus iranicus has been first described in 1981 by Victor Petrovič Botschantzev (in: Bot. Mater. Gerb. Bot. Inst. Komarova Akad. Nauk SSSR 18, p. 153). Within the genus, it belongs to the section Halothamnus.