''Zygophyllum'' is the type genus of the

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

family Zygophyllaceae. The generic name is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

words ζυγόν (''zygon''), meaning "double", and φυλλον (''phyllon''), meaning "

leaf A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

". It refers to the leaves, each of which have two leaflets. The genus is distributed in

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...

and

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

regions of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, the

Mediterranean Basin In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and w ...

central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...

and Australia.

Molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis suggested that as previously

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every po ...

, ''Zygophyllum'' was not

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic ...

, and the genus was split among a number of other genera, including '' Augea'', '' Fagonia'', '' Roepera'' and ''

Tetraena ''Tetraena'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Zygophyllaceae. Description Species of ''Tetraena'' are shrubby or herbaceous, the tallest being around . The leaves are opposite, or sometimes borne on short shoots and then appearin ...

''.

Species

In accordance with

International Plant Names Index The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) describes itself as "a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of species and genus. It inc ...

, genus ''Zygophyllum'' currently has 117 accepted species: *''Zygophyllum acerosum'' (Boiss.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum aegyptium'' Hosny *''

Zygophyllum album ''Tetraena alba'' (synonym ''Zygophyllum album'') is a species of plant in the family Zygophyllaceae which is found in arid regions of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It is a salt tolerant plant and dominates many of the plant communities in wh ...

'' L.f. *''Zygophyllum applanatum'' Van Zyl *''Zygophyllum arabicum'' (L.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum atriplicoides'' Fisch. & C.A.Mey. *''Zygophyllum augea'' Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum balchaschense'' Boriss. *''Zygophyllum betpakdalense'' Golosk. & Semiotr. *''Zygophyllum borissovae'' Beier & Thulin *''Zygophyllum brachypterum'' Kar. & Kir. *''Zygophyllum bruguieri'' (DC.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum bucharicum'' B.Fedtsch. *''Zygophyllum californicum'' (Benth.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum charoides'' (Chiov.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum chilense'' (Hook. & Arn.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum chrysopteron'' Retief *''Zygophyllum clavatum'' Schltr. & Diels *''Zygophyllum coccineum'' L. *''Zygophyllum cornutum'' Coss. *''Zygophyllum creticum'' (L.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum cuspidatum'' Boriss. *''Zygophyllum cylindrifolium'' Schinz *''Zygophyllum darvasicum'' Boriss. *''Zygophyllum decumbens'' Delile *''Zygophyllum densispinum'' (Beier & Thulin) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum densum'' (I.M.Johnst.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum dregeanum'' Sond. *'' Zygophyllum dumosum'' Boiss. *''Zygophyllum eichwaldii'' C.A.Mey. *'' Zygophyllum fabago'' L. *''Zygophyllum fabagoides'' Popov *'' Zygophyllum fontanesii'' Webb & Berthel. *''Zygophyllum furcatum'' C.A.Mey. *''Zygophyllum gaetulum'' Emb. & Maire *''Zygophyllum geslinii'' Coss. *''

Zygophyllum giessii ''Tetraena giessii'', synonym ''Zygophyllum giessii'', is a species of plant in the family Zygophyllaceae. It is endemic to Namibia. Its natural habitats are rocky areas and cold desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where l ...

'' Merxm. & A.Schreib. *''Zygophyllum glutinosum'' (Delile) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum gobicum'' Maxim. *''Zygophyllum gontscharovii'' Boriss. *''Zygophyllum gypsophilum'' (Beier & Thulin) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum hadramauticum'' (Beier & Thulin) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum hamiense'' Schweinf. *''Zygophyllum harpago'' (Emb. & Maire) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum heterocladum'' Rech.f. & Patzak *''Zygophyllum iliense'' Popov *''Zygophyllum indicum'' (Burm.f.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum jaxarticum'' Popov *''Zygophyllum kansuense'' Y.X.Liou *''Zygophyllum karatavicum'' Boriss. *''Zygophyllum kaschgaricum'' Boriss. *''Zygophyllum kegense'' Boriss. *''Zygophyllum kopalense'' Boriss. *''Zygophyllum laeve'' (Standl.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum lahovarii'' (Volkens & Schweinf.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum latistipulatum'' (Beier & Thulin) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum lehmannianum'' Bunge *''Zygophyllum loczyi'' Kanitz *''Zygophyllum longicapsulare'' Schinz *''Zygophyllum longistipulatum'' Schinz *''Zygophyllum luntii'' (Baker) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum macropodum'' Boriss. *''Zygophyllum madagascariense'' (Baill.) Stauffer *''Zygophyllum madecassum'' H.Perrier *''Zygophyllum mahranum'' (Beier) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum mandavillei'' Hadidi *''Zygophyllum mayanum'' (Schltdl.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum melongena'' Bunge *''Zygophyllum microcarpum'' Licht. ex Cham. *''Zygophyllum migiurtinorum'' Chiov. *''Zygophyllum miniatum'' Cham. *''Zygophyllum minutistipulum'' (Engl.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum molle'' (Delile) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum mongolicum'' (Maxim.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum mucronatum'' Maxim. *''Zygophyllum neglectum'' Grubov *''Zygophyllum obliquum'' Popov *''Zygophyllum olivieri'' (DC.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum orientale'' (C.Presl) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum ovigerum'' Fisch. & C.A.Mey. ex Bunge *''Zygophyllum oxianum'' Boriss. *''Zygophyllum oxycarpum'' Popov *''Zygophyllum pachyacanthum'' (Rydb.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum palmeri'' (Vasey & Rose) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum pamiricum'' Grubov *''Zygophyllum paulayanum'' (J.Wagner & Vierh.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum pinnatum'' Cham. *''Zygophyllum potaninii'' Maxim. *''Zygophyllum prismaticum'' Chiov. *''Zygophyllum prismatocarpum'' Sond. *''Zygophyllum procumbens'' Adamson *''Zygophyllum propinquum'' Decne. *''Zygophyllum pterocarpum'' Bunge *''Zygophyllum pterocaule'' Van Zyl *''

Zygophyllum qatarense ''Tetraena qatarensis'' is a salt-tolerant dwarf shrub that grows in the Arabian Peninsula. It has small compact leaves that store water. The leaflets grow in pairs and the flowers have four or five petals. Description ''Tetraena qatarensis'' i ...

'' Hadidi *''Zygophyllum retrofractum'' Thunb. *''Zygophyllum rigidum'' Schinz *''Zygophyllum rosowii'' Bunge *''Zygophyllum scabrum'' (Forssk.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum scoparium'' (Brandegee) Christenh. & Byng *'' Zygophyllum simplex'' L. *''Zygophyllum sinkiangense'' Y.X.Liou *''Zygophyllum smithii'' Hadidi *''Zygophyllum somalense'' Hadidi *''Zygophyllum spinosissimum'' (Blatt. & Hallb.) Christenh. & Byng *'' Zygophyllum stapffii'' Schinz *''Zygophyllum steropterum'' Schrenk *''Zygophyllum subinerme'' (Boiss.) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum subtrijugum'' C.A.Mey. *''Zygophyllum sulcatum'' Huysst. *''Zygophyllum taldykurganicum'' Boriss. *''Zygophyllum tenue'' R.Glover *''Zygophyllum trialatum'' Blatt. & Hallb. *''Zygophyllum turcomanicum'' Fisch. ex Boiss. *''Zygophyllum villosum'' (D.M.Porter) Christenh. & Byng *''Zygophyllum xanthoxylum'' (Bunge) Maxim. *''Zygophyllum zilloides'' (Humbert) Christenh. & Byng

References

External links

{{Authority control Rosid genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot