Cleome chrysantha


Observations:

  • Upper Karkur Talh (Jebel Uweinat), October 2005, following rain
  • Upper Karkur Talh (Jebel Uweinat), October 2006, remnant vegetation of 2005 rains
  • Upper Karkur Talh (Jebel Uweinat), October 2006, following rain
  • Upper Wadi Handal (Jebel Uweinat), October 2006, remnant vegetation of 2005 rains
  • South western branch of Karkur Talh (Jebel Uweinat), October 2006
  • Emeri Highland (Jebel Uweinat), observation by Alessandro Menardi Noguera, April 2006, following rain
  • Hidden valley near Ain Zueia (Jebel Uweinat), November 2010

    A few individulas of this species was noted as a single locality in upper Karkur Talh following the rains of 2005. One year after the rains, it became one of the dominant species in upper Karkur Talh, present in large numbers. The fresh green state noted in October 2006 in Karkur Talh was in sharp contrast to the semi dried state observed by Menardi-Noguera on the Emmeri plateau the previous spring, though growth was spurred in both places by the 2005 rains. Numerous fresh sprouts were observed in the rain affected areas of upper Karkur Talh in October 2006 alongside mature plants from the year before, and the species was also noted in the upper section of Wadi Handal as remnant vegetation of the previous years' rains. One single specimen was noted in the south western branch of Karkur Talh in October 2006, where no evidence of rain runoff was found. It is a close cousin of the perennial drought resistant Cleome droserifolia.

         
    Upper Karkur Talh (Jebel Uweinat), in rocky wadi bed, 20th October, 2005

     
    Emeri highland (Jebel Uweinat), April 2006
    (Photos by Alessandro Menardi Noguera)

         
         
    Upper Karkur Talh (Jebel Uweinat), in rocky wadi bed, October, 2006

         
         
    Upper Karkur Talh (Jebel Uweinat), intermingled predominantly with Fagonia indica, Aerva persica and Morettia philaeana, October, 2006


       
    Old growth alongside new in upper Karkur Talh (Jebel Uweinat), October 2006


     

       
    Fresh growth in northern side valley of upper Karkur Talh (Jebel Uweinat), October 2006


       
    Upper northern tributary of Wadi Handal (Jebel Uweinat), October 2006.

       
    South western branch of Karkur Talh (Jebel Uweinat), October, 2006

      Hidden valley near Ain Zueia (Jebel Uweinat), November, 2010