''Paraerva microphylla'' is a species of

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 ...

in the family

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae ( ) is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus '' Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, maki ...

. It is a

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or undershrub is either a small shrub (e.g. prostrate shrubs) or a perennial that is largely herbaceous but slightly woody at the base (e.g. garden pink and florist's chrysanthemum). The term is often interch ...

or shrub

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the islands of

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 ...

and

Abd al Kuri Abd al Kuri () is a rocky island in the Guardafui Channel. As a part of the Socotra Archipelago Governorate of Yemen, it lies about 65 miles (105 km) southwest of the main island of Socotra. Its terrain primarily consists of granite and di ...

in the

Socotra archipelago The Socotra Archipelago ( '), officially the Socotra Archipelago Governorate ( '), abbreviated to Socotra Governorate ( '), is one of the governorates of Yemen. It includes a number of islands in the Indian Ocean south of mainland Yemen, the la ...

off the coast of

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

, which are politically part of

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is dry shrubland, generally on cliffs and rock surfaces, often overlooking the sea. On the island of Socotra it rarely grows above 200 meters elevation, and up to 350 meters on Ras Shu’ub at the western end of the island. On

and

Samhah Samhah (; alt. Samha) is an inhabited island in the Guardafui Channel. A part of the Socotra Archipelago of Yemen, it is located between the island of Socotra and Abd al Kuri. Statistics It measures in area, making it the smallest of the thr ...

islands it grows up to 650 meters elevation.

References

Amaranthaceae Endemic flora of Socotra Least concern plants Least concern biota of Africa Plants described in 1849 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Amaranthaceae-stub