Wadi Tarabat Survey, 16 April, 2004
Wadi Tarabat Survey, 16 April, 2004
by Bob Reimer
While many ENHG members were off exploring Nizwa in Oman, eight intrepid members explored something closer to home, Wadi Tarabat. Wadi Tarabat has been recovering since domestic grazing animals were removed from the area just over a year ago. As we entered the wadi, we noticed that development continues. New wells have been dug and there is a new power line running further back into the wadi. Drilling rigs were in evidence at the foot of the road up to Jebel Hafeet.
Despite the lack of rain, there were many plants and trees in flower. Brigitte tells me we identified 38 different species of plants. We noticed many insects. Some were captured by malaise trap and net by Brigitte and Mike for further identification. We believe we had several species that have not been recorded in Wadi Tarabat previously. The pitted beetles were much in evidence with many in a mating frenzy. We saw a number of birds including 3 Egyptian vultures.
The following photos are currently in chronological order. Bird pictures have been cropped to 640x480 rather than being resampled like most others. Hopefully Naseer and Bill will have some better bird shots with their longer lenses. As plants are identified, they will likely be segregated into separate pages as was done for the A'Dahir field trip.
We are planning to continue surveying Wadi Tarabat to see the continued recovery of flora and fauna since the removal last year of domestic goats that were grazing in the wadi.
Flora List
by Brigitte Howarth
| Photo Link | Family | Genus and Species | Page No.* | English Name | Arabic Name | Flow-ering | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poaceae | Cymbopogon commutatus | 55 | incense grass | Alklathgar, sakhbar, hamra’, idhkihir, khasaab | No | In India and Pakistan Cymbopogon species are cultivated for the extraction of the aromatic oil citronella. |
| 1, 2 | Acanthaceae | Blepharis ciliaris | 106 | eyelash plant | shawk ad-dhub | Yes | Dried roasted roots pounded to make ‘kohl’, used both to improve vision and as a cosmetic. The long spines were used to apply the ‘kohl’. |
| Amaranthaceae | Aerva javanica | 115 | al ara’, twaim, efhe, tirf | Yes | Woolly flower and seed heads were gathered for use as stuffing for camel saddles and cushions. | ||
| Asclepiadaceae | Leptadenia pyrotechnica | 133 | broom bush | markh, ma’aleet | No | Dried hairs of seeds were used as tinder (‘pyrotechnica’ means ‘fire-making’) | |
| 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 | Asteraceae | Iphiona aucheri | 161 | Yes | Extremely poisonous. Almost the most dominant plant at the mouth of the wadi. | ||
| Asteraceae | Pulicaria glutinosa | 182 | thal, fal, muhayda, mithidi, shneena, zayyan | Yes | |||
| 1, 2 | Boraginaceae | Heliotropium calcareum | 211 | Khashafah | Yes | ||
| Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) | Morettia parviflora | 238 | ulqa-baida, shehayha, hafra | ? | |||
| 1, 2 | Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) | Physorrhynchus chamaerapistrum | 240 | Molly of the AD ENHG calls this ‘donkey salad’ | Khafij, fijeelah, khophaje | Yes | Often with caterpillar damage. |
| Capparaceae | Capparis spinosa | 248 | common caper bush | kobar, lasafa, fakouha, shawk al homar, shafallah, delayer, dabayee | No | The buds of this plant (from the Mediterranean) are picked and used as ‘capers’. Food source for the Caper White butterfly (Anaphaeis aurota) which was also recorded in the wadi near these plants. | |
| Capparaceae | Cleome rupicola | 254 | muqaybil as-shams, mekhisa | Yes | |||
| 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 | Convolvulaceae | Convolvulus virgatus | 316 | hub al-risha, adlam | Yes | These are notorious for identification and there are other possibilities but general consensus is that the Convolvulus present at Tarabat was the species virgatus. | |
| 1, 2, 3, 4 | Cucurbitaceae | Citrullus colocynthis | 323 | Desert squash, bitter gourd, colocynth | Shary, handhal, murrah, serew, hanzal, suri, hedge | Yes | Buds, flowers, fruit and dried fruit with seeds observed and photographed. |
| 1 | Cucurbitaceae | Cucumis prophetarum | 325 | Shara aldheeb, handalan, harg, honaidalan dhefali, gathaa | No | The although the fruit photographed is bright yellow with spines, it doesn’t quite look like this plant in Marijcke’s book so the verdict is still out on this specimen. | |
| 1, 2 | Euphorbiaceae | Euphorbia larica | 340 | isbaq (isbaj), ibriq | ? | Milky plant sap, a latex, is poisonous. | |
| Fabaceae (Leguminosae) | Crotalaria aegyptiaca | 357 | nzah, nizar | Yes | |||
| 1, 2, 3 | Fabaceae (Leguminosae) | Indigofera intricata | 367 | Baysha, neela, rakhaymu, uzlim, gataiti, tihubberkayt | Yes | Low-growing plant with a very bright red flower. | |
| Fabaceae (Leguminosae) | Senna italica | 383 | ‘ishrig, senna, helul, senemukkiya, kharkhash, sharjarat ad dhub | Yes | Distinctive seed pod. | ||
| Fabaceae (Leguminosae) | Taverniera glabra | 384 | Asmat, nabat (newott), ward al-jebel | Yes | Food plant for the moths Chilena laristana and Drasteria yerburyi | ||
| 1 | Fabaceae (Leguminosae) | Tephrosia apollinea | 386 | dhafra, omayye, nafal | Yes | ||
| Fabaceae (Leguminosae) | Tephrosia nubica | 388 | Aytiman | Yes | Easily identified as such due to the hairy seed pods. | ||
| 1, 2, 3 | Malpighiaceae | Acridocarpus orientalis | 412 | oafas, ethoot (ethiyot, otot), etbot | Yes | The shrub is the foodplant of the caterpillar of the Giant Skipper butterfly Coeliades anchises. In the UAE this plant is only recorded from Jebel Hafit. | |
| 1, 2, 3 | Mimosaceae | Acacia tortilis | 425 | samr (samur), salam | Yes | Many of the trees were in flower. | |
| 1 | Mimosaceae | Prosopis cineraria | 426 | ghaf, harb, awd, hadheeb, shibhan | Yes | In flower | |
| Mimosaceae | Prosopis juliflora | 429 | Mesquite | meskeet, jangalee, ghawiaf | ? | Introduced but now well established. Allergenic. Competes in natural habitats with the native Prosopis cineraria (ghaf). | |
| Moringaceae | Moringa peregrina | 436 | wild drumstick tree | Shu’ (ashooh, ‘ash’asheh, leshar), yasar, baan, ;aweyr, bayreh, terfaal, yayn | ? | The seed oil contains almost all the fatty acids that are also found in olive oil. Moringa wood is reported to be resistant to termites and therefore popular as building material. | |
| 1, 2, 3 | Polygalaceae | Polygala erioptera | 459 | hikal, ghazema, shaymet ghazal | Yes | Mike noticed a very small row of lepidopteran eggs on this plant. | |
| Resedaceae | Ochradenus aucheri | 478 | jesh, besh, gurdee, ‘alqa | Yes | Many insects were observed on this plant. | ||
| Rubiaceae | Pseudogiallonia hymenostephana | 490 | popcorn plant | tekaka, shayriyyah | Yes | Specimen had white flowers. | |
| 1, 2 | Resedaceae | Reseda arabica | 480 | Yes | Recorded from the foot of Jebel Hafit by M. Jongbloed. | ||
| 1, 2, 3, 4 | Rutaceae | Haplophyllum tuberculatum | 493 | 13 Arabic names! e.g. srayu’u asraw, sinan al-tais | Yes | Many of the Arabic names reflect the strong odour of the plant, e.g. musaykah=musk, sinan al-tais = smell of the billy goat | |
| Scrophulariaceae | Schweinfurthia papilionacea | 509 | qataf, suwaida | ? | |||
| 1, 2, 3 | Solanaceae | Lycium shawii | 515 | Desert thorn | ‘ausaj, shaaz, qasad, semkis | No | Flowers not seen but berries observed. In Saudi Arabia and Kuwait local bedu believe the bush to be an abode of ‘djinn’, so therefore the wood is not cut for fuel. |
| 1, 2, 3, 4 | Zygophyllaceae | Fagonia indica | 546 | fagonia | shekka, dhreima, hulaymah | Yes | Powdered leaves and roots used for treatment of colic and/or fever. Seed distinctively with 5 segments (visible on this image) |
| 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 | Zygophyllaceae | Tribulus terrestris | 553 | land caltrops, puncture vine | shershir, kuteb, shuraysah, shiqshiq, dreiss | Yes | Fruit, flower and seed found. |
| Zygophyllaceae | Zygophyllum | 554 - 556 | harm | Yes | Species needs to be identified. | ||
| lichens |
* Page No. refers to page number in Wildflowers of the United Arab Emirates by M. Jongbloed
Photos by Bob Reimer
