Alhagi maurorum

The perennial plant grows from a massive rhizome system which may extend over {{Convert|6|ft|order=flip}} into the ground. New shoots can appear over {{Convert|6|m|abbr=on}} from the parent plant. Above the ground, the plant grows up to {{Convert|0.9|m|ft|frac=2}} tall.{{Cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VLbAAwAAQBAJ |title=Trees & Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest |last2=Kuhlmann |first2=Ellen |date=2014 |publisher=Timber Press |isbn=978-1-60469-263-1 |edition=1st |location=Portland, OR |pages=184}} It is a heavily branched, gray-green thicket with long spines along the branches. The deciduous leaves are oval to egg-shaped, up to {{Convert|1|cm|frac=4}} long.

It bears small, bright pink to maroon pea flowers up to {{Convert|1|cm|abbr=on|frac=8}} long and small legume pods, which are brown or reddish, up to {{Convert|2.5|cm|abbr=on|frac=8}}, and constricted between the seeds. The seeds are mottled brown beans.

Alhagi maurorum is indigenous to temperate and tropical Eurasia and the Middle East, in: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, northwest China, Cyprus, northern India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mongolia, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Russia (in Ciscaucasia, Dagestan, southern European Russia, and the southern part of the West Siberian Plain).

The species has become naturalized in Australia, the southwest United States, and southern Africa.

Alhagi maurorum is a noxious weed outside its native range. It is a contaminant of alfalfa seed, and grows readily when accidentally introduced to a cultivated field. It has a wide soil tolerance, thriving on saline, sandy, rocky, and dry soils. It does best when growing next to a source of water, such as an irrigation ditch. It is unpalatable to animals and irritating when it invades forage and grazing land.

Alhagi maurorum has been used locally in folk medicine as a treatment for glandular tumors, nasal polyps, and ailments related to the bile ducts.{{cite web|author=James A. Duke |title=Alhagi maurorum (FABACEAE) |publisher=Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases |url=https://phytochem.nal.usda.gov/phytochem/ethnoPlants/show/3405?qlookup=Alhagi+maurorum |access-date=December 24, 2017|author-link=James A. Duke }} It is used as a medicinal herb for its gastroprotective, diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, laxative, antidiarrhoeal and antiseptic properties, and in the treatment of rheumatism and hemorrhoids.{{citation needed|date=November 2011}} The plant is mentioned in the Quran as a source of sweet manna.{{cite book |title=Tafsir al-Jalalayn |date=1505 |page=171 |url=https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=7&tAyahNo=160&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 |access-date=8 October 2020}} It has also been used as a sweetener.

In the folk medicine of Iran, A. maurorum decoction has been used for jaundice therapy.{{cite journal | author = Tewari D, Mocan A, Parvanov ED, Sah AN, Nabavi SM, Huminiecki L, Ma ZF, Lee YY, Horbańczuk JO, Atanasov AG | date = Aug 2017 | title = Ethnopharmacological Approaches for Therapy of Jaundice: Part I | journal = Front Pharmacol | volume = 8 | page = 518 | doi = 10.3389/fphar.2017.00518 | pmid = 28860989 | pmc = 5559545 | doi-access = free }}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?3691,3711,3712 Jepson Manual Treatment]
• [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ALMA12 USDA Plants Profile]
• [http://www.invasive.org/browse/subject.cfm?sub=5061 invasive.org Report]
• [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Alhagi+pseudalhagi Photo gallery]
• [http://pjms.com.pk/issues/julsep07/article/article20.html Mohhammad Kazem Gharib Naseri, Seyyed Ali Mard: Gastroprotective effect of alhagi maurorum on experimental gastric ulcer in rats]
• {{cite journal | author = Atta AH | display-authors = etal | title = Evaluation of the diuretic effect of Conyza dioscorides and Alhagi maurorum | url = http://www.ijppsjournal.com/Vol2Suppl3/708.pdf | journal = International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences | volume = 2 | issue = Suppl 3 | pages = 162–165 | access-date = 2011-01-01 | archive-date = 2015-09-24 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924033509/http://www.ijppsjournal.com/Vol2Suppl3/708.pdf | url-status = dead }}
• {{cite journal | author = Atta AH, Mouneir SM | date = Jun 2004 | title = Antidiarrhoeal activity of some Egyptian medicinal plant extracts | journal = J Ethnopharmacol | volume = 92 | issue = 2–3| pages = 303–309 | pmid = 15138016 | doi = 10.1016/j.jep.2004.03.017 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110115031955/http://www.ummah.com/islam/taqwapalace/fitness/health2.html Plants of the Noble Qur’an]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110718010750/http://server9.web-mania.com/users/pfafardea/database/plants.php?Alhagi+maurorum Plants for a Future database: Camel Thorn]

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Category:Hedysareae

Category:Flora of Asia