''Hammada'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s belonging to the family

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it ...

. It is also in the

Salsoloideae The Salsoloideae are a subfamily of the Amaranthaceae, formerly in family Chenopodiaceae. Description These are herbs, subshrubs, shrubs and some trees. Stems and leaves are often succulent. The ovary contains a spiral embryo. In most genera ...

subfamily. Although it is a very unclear and unsorted genus with many species that have later been classed as synonyms. Its native range is Central Asia and is found in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Turkey and Uzbekistan. They are often found growing in alkaline or saline habitats.

Description

They are

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

s, with a glabrous (smooth) wood (only at the base). They can grow up to tall.

Michael Zohary Michael Zohary ( he, מיכאל זהרי) (born 9 April 1898 in Bóbrka, Galicia (Austria-Hungary); died 16 April 1983 in Israel) was a pioneering Israeli botanist. Biography Michael Schein (later Zohary) was born into a Jewish family in Bóbrk ...

The weed-like plants have regular, minute, or small, cyclic flowers. The flowers have no petals, but 5 sepals which are united at the base. It has 5 stamens and the ovary is positioned superior and consists of 2 united

carpel Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

s. Which late matures into a fruit (or seed capsule).

Known species

According to

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

; * ''

Hammada eriantha A hamada ( ar, حمادة, ) is a type of desert landscape consisting of high, largely barren, hard rocky plateaus, where most of the sand has been removed by deflation. The majority of the Sahara is in fact hamada. Other examples are Negev dese ...

'' Botsch. (from Uzbekistan) * ''

Hammada ramosissima A hamada ( ar, حمادة, ) is a type of desert landscape consisting of high, largely barren, hard rocky plateaus, where most of the sand has been removed by deflation. The majority of the Sahara is in fact hamada. Other examples are Negev de ...

'' (Boiss. ex Eig) Iljin (from Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Turkey) Although, Schüssler in 2017, listed the following species; ''Hammada eriantha'' , ''Hammada griffithii'' , ''Hammada negevensis'' , ''Hammada salicornica'' , ''Hammada schmittiana'' and ''Hammada thomsonii'' . It is not known what the genus name of ''Hammada'' is in reference to, but

Hamada A hamada ( ar, حمادة, ) is a type of desert landscape consisting of high, largely barren, hard rocky plateaus, where most of the sand has been removed by deflation. The majority of the Sahara is in fact hamada. Other examples are Negev dese ...

in Arabic is a desert landscape. It was first described and published in Bot. Zhurn. (Moscow & Leningrad) Vol.33 on page 582 in 1948. The genus is not recognized by the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

and the

Agricultural Research Service The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ext ...

, as they list it as a synonym of ''

Haloxylon ''Haloxylon'' is a genus of shrubs or small trees, belonging to the plant family Amaranthaceae. ''Haloxylon'' and its species are known by the common name saxaul. According to Dmitry Ushakov, the name borrowed from the Kazakh "seksevil". In moder ...

'' . Note; ''Hammada scoparia'' a former species in the genus, is classed as an accepted synonym of ''

Haloxylon scoparium ''Haloxylon scoparium'' (syns. ''Arthrophytum scoparium'' and ''Hammada scoparia'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference t ...

'' .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3325413 Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae genera Plants described in 1948 Flora of Uzbekistan Flora of Western Asia