Plants in Israel: Agathophora alopecuroides

Agathophora alopecuroides, Halogeton alopecuroides,
Hebrew: מלחנית הערבות, Arabic: شعران ثعلبي

Scientific name:   Agathophora alopecuroides (Delile) Bunge
Synonym name:   Halogeton alopecuroides (Delile) Moq
Hebrew name:   מלחנית הערבות
Arabic name:   شعران ثعلبي
Family:   Chenopodiaceae, סלקיים


Life form:   Chamaephyte, semi-shrub
Succulence:   Leaf succulent
Leaves:   Alternate, cylindrical or terete
Flowers:   Green
Flowering Period:   March, April, May, June, July
Habitat:   Sand
Distribution:   Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts
Chorotype:   Saharo-Arabian
Summer shedding:   Perennating


Derivation of the botanical name:

Agathophora , aghatos, “good”; -phora, -bearing,- carrying.

alopecuroides, alopecuros, αλωπεκουροϛ (αλωπεξ ουρα) Theophrastus: “fox tail, fox brush”; -oides, -οειδεϛ, “like, resemble”; like the genus Alopecurus (foxtail).
Halogeton, halo, “salt”, -geton, “neighbour”; neighbour of salt.

  • The standard author abbreviation Delile is used to indicate Alire Raffeneau Delile (1778 – 1850),a French botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Bunge is used to indicate Alexander Andrejewitsch von Bunge (1803 – 1890), German-Russian botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Moq. is used to indicate Christian Horace Bénédict Alfred Moquin-Tandon (1804 – 1863), a French naturalist and doctor.

The districts in Israel where the Agathophora alopecuroides is recorded, are the Negev, Samarian Desert, Judean Desert, Lower Judean Valley, Dead Sea Valley and Arava Valley.
Agathophora alopecuroides is eaten by camels but not by other stock. At Hoggar,the highland region in central Sahara (southern Algeria), it is crushed and an infusion is taken for liver complaints. It produces an emeto-cathartic effect.