Morpho-anatomical Characters of Leaves and Stems as a Tool for the Identification of Some Taxa of Zygophyllaceae of Eastern Saudi Arabia

Abstract

DALIA G. GABR AND OSAMA G. RAGAB morphological, anatomical, and DNA data, Sheahan & Chase (1996) considered the genera Nitraria and Peganum to be distinct from Zygophyllaceae but more relevant to Sapindales families. Boulos (2009) agreed with Sheahan & Chase (1996) and showed that Zygophyllaceae includes the genera Fagonia, Zygophyllum, Tribulus, Balanites and Seetzenia; meanehile, he separated Nitraria and Peganum under distinct families, that is Nitrariaceae and Peganaceae, respectively. Then, Sheahan (2011) placed the genera Zygophyllum, Fagonia, Tribulus, Balanites, Seetzenia and Guaiacum within the family Zygophyllaceae. In 1978, Migahid detected five genera and 17 species from the Zygophyllaceae in Saudi Arabia. Recently, Chaudhary (2001) recorded seven genera (Zygophyllum, Fagonia, Tribulus, Balanites, Seetzenia, Peganum, and Nitraria) that included 24 species, two sub-species and 12 varieties. More recently, Thomas (2011) identified six genera of Zygophyllaceae (Balanites, Fagonia, Seetzenia, Tetraena, Tribulus, and Zygophyllum), which included 22 species and nine varieties. Concerning the eastern sector of Saudi Arabia, Mandaville (1990) recorded only 15 species, belonging to six genera (Zygophyllum, Fagonia, Tribulus, Seetzenia, Peganum, and Nitraria).