Flora of Israel: Cretan prickly clover | plant family

Fagonia arabica, Fagonia cretica, Cretan prickly clover,
Hebrew: פגוניה ערבית, Arabic: شويكه


Scientific name:		Fagonia arabica L.
Synonym name:		Fagonia cretica L.
Common name:		Cretan prickly clover
Hebrew name:		פגוניה ערבית
Arabic name:		شويكه
Family:		Zygophyllaceae, Bean Caper or Caltrop family, זוגניים

_{Location: Aravah}


Life form:		Chamaephyte, semi-shrub
Spinescence:		Stipules
Leaves:		Opposite, compound, trifoliolate, smooth, spinescense stipules
Inflorescence:		Solitary axillary flowers
Flowers:		Pink solitary flowers, 5 free, mucronate sepals; 5 free, clawed, imbricate, caduceus petals; 10 free stamens, inserted on a disc; filaments filiform, without appendages; 5-celled sessile ovary; 2 ovules at the base of each cell; 5-angled style persistent; simple stigma
Fruits / pods:		Septicidal capsule fruit, pentagonous, deeply 5-lobed, splitting along the axis into 5 carpals; carpals 1-seeded; seeds ovate or ovate-oblong, compressed, with mucillaginous coat
Flowering Period:		April, May, June
Habitat:		Sand
Distribution:		Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts
Chorotype, טיפוס התפוצה:		Saharo-Arabian
Summer shedding:		Perennating

_{Location: Aravah}
Derivation of the botanical name:

Fagonia, named for Guy-Crescent Fagon (1638 – 1718), a physician and botanist to Louis XIV

arabica, of Arabia.

The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

Fagonia arabica / Fagonia cretica is seen in the desert and at the margins of the wadis and near the water runnels, it is used to treat stomach pain as well as being used alone or mixed with other herbs for severe fevers and mucus. According to traditional knowledge, Fagonia cretica has medicinal potential, and in present study this information was confirmed at laboratory level by performing different biological assays. Fagonia cretica attenuates oxidative stress mediated cell injury during OGD (oxygen glucose deprivation). It is effective in elevating the GSH (glutathione) levels, expression of the gamma-glutamylcysteine ligase and Cytosolic Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn SOD) genes and may be an effective therapeutic tool against ischemic brain damage.

_{Location: Aravah}