Israel native plants: Taily Weed

Ochradenus baccatus, Taily Weed,
Hebrew: רכפתן מדברי Arabic: العلندر

Scientific name:   Ochradenus baccatus Delile
Common name:   Taily Weed
Hebrew name:   רכפתן מדברי
Arabic name:   العلندر
Family:   Resedaceae, רכפתיים


Life form:   Phanerophyte shrub
Stems:   Branches slender, greenish yellow when mature.
Leaves:   Alternate, entire, linear, acute
Inflorescence:   In dense terminal and rigid racemes 5-15 cm long; bract c. 2.5 mm long, oblong;pedicel 1 mm long, slightly longer in fruit
Flowers:   Yellowish green, bisexual flowers; sepals 5(-6), ovate, 1 mm long; petals absent or 2-3, less than 1 mm long, subulate; appendage more or less suborbiculate; disc fleshy, surrounding the filaments and ovary; stamens 10-12; filaments 1-2 mm long, fused at the base, deciduous; female flowers: Petals absent or reduced. Ovary glabrous; staminodes present
Fruits / pods:   Berry 3-5 mm broad, white. rugose seeds c. 1.5 mm long, reniform, brown, papillose; fruit is sweet and edible
Flowering Period:   January, February, March, April, May, December
Habitat:   Thermophilous plants
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts
Chorotype:   Sudanian-African
Summer shedding:   Perennating


Derivation of the botanical name:

Ochradenus, ochros ωχροϛ , pale yellow, yellow ochre; aden, gland.

baccatus, bacca, berry; adorned with berries.
The Hebrew name: רכפתן, rikhptan, derivated from רכפה, rikhpa, a plant used for dyeing, probably identical with the weld, or mignonette.

  • The standard author abbreviation Delile is used to indicate Alire Raffeneau Delile (1778 – 1850),a French botanist.