''Sphaerocoma'' is a

monotypic genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s belonging to the family

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranth ...

. The only species is ''Sphaerocoma hookeri''. Its native range is Egypt to Northeastern Tropical Africa (Sudan, Eritrea, and Somalia),

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, southern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and southwestern

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized: * ''Sphaerocoma hookeri'' subsp. ''aucheri'' (Boiss.) Kool & Thulin – Arabian Peninsula, southern Iran, and southwestern Pakistan * ''Sphaerocoma hookeri'' subsp. ''hookeri'' – Egypt, Eritrea, Sinai,

Socotra Socotra, locally known as Saqatri, is a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. Situated between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, it lies near major shipping routes. Socotra is the largest of the six islands in the Socotra archipelago as ...

, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen

Ecology

In the

South Iran Nubo–Sindian desert and semi-desert The South Iran Nubo–Sindian desert and semi-desert ecoregion (WWF ID: PA1328) covers the northern coastal plain of the Persian Gulf and the inland desert hills south of the Zagros Mountains of Iran. The region also has extensions reaching into ...

ecoregion of southern Iran and southwestern Pakistan, ''Sphaerocoma hookeri'' subsp. ''aucheri'' in association with '' Euphorbia larica'' forms one of the ecoregion's typical plant communities.Takhtajan, A. L. (1986). ''Floristic Regions of the World''. University of California Press, Berkeley. QK 101.T313 1986 ISBN 0-520-04027-9

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q10373712, from2=Q17243304 Caryophyllaceae Monotypic Caryophyllaceae genera Flora of the Arabian Peninsula Flora of Northeast Tropical Africa Flora of Socotra Flora of Iran Flora of Pakistan