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Peganum harmala
Sign in to saveAlso known as Esfand, wild rue, Syrian rue, African rue, harmal
species of plant in the family Nitrariaceae
OverviewAI-generated
Peganum harmala, commonly known as harmal or harmel, is a species of herbaceous plant in the family Nitrariaceae. It belongs to the genus Peganum within the order Sapindales and class Magnoliopsida. The plant produces a capsule as its fruit type and is classified as a useful plant, medicinal plant, and psychoactive drug.
The natural range of Peganum harmala extends from North Africa and southern Europe through southwest Asia to Tibet, including China, Xinjiang, and the Tibet Autonomous Region. The species has also been introduced to several regions, including Arizona, Baleares, California, Cape Provinces, Colorado, France, Hungary, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Texas.
Synthesized by Vinony from 38 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, iNaturalist, Encyclopedia of Life, Gbif Occ, Plants of the World, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
harmel
SPECIES
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassMagnoliopsida
- OrderSapindales
- FamilyTetradiclidaceae
North Africa, southern Europe, southwest Asia to Tibet.
via GBIF · Kew POWO
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 1,644
- With media
- 1,470
- Family
- Nitrariaceae
- Collections
- BRIT, NY, UNM, CAS, NMMNHS, RSA
- Recorded in
- United States, Pakistan
~30 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Peganum harmala, commonly called wild rue, Syrian rue, African rue, esfand or espand, or harmel (among other similar pronunciations and spellings), is a perennial, herbaceous plant, with a woody underground rootstock, of the family Nitrariaceae, usually growing in saline soils in temperate desert and Mediterranean regions. Its common English-language name came about because of a resemblance to rue (to which it is not related). Its seeds contain a high concentration (at least 5.9% by weight) of diverse beta-carboline alkaloids.
It has deep roots and a strong smell, finely divided leaves, white flowers rich in alkaloids, and small seed capsules containing numerous dark, oily seeds. It is native to a vast region across North Africa, southern and eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of South and East Asia, and has been introduced to countries like South Africa, Mexico, France. It grows in dry, often saline or disturbed habitats, thriving from sea level to high elevations, is pollinated mainly by insects (especially honey bees), disperses seeds mostly by dispersal vectors or human activity, and hosts a specialized beetle (Thamnurgus pegani) proposed for its biological control.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Peganum harmala” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.