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  • COMMON NAME: Red Thamb,Maltese Mushroom ,Desert Thamb.
  • ARABIC: طرثوث
  • BOTANICAL NAME: Cynomorium coccineum L.
  • SYNONYMS: Cynomorium coccineum subsp. coccineum
  • FAMILY: BALANOPHORACEAE
  • KIND: Native
  • EMIRATE: Abu-Dhabi , Dubai , Fujairah
  • CATEGORIES: Medicinal (M) Other Uses (O)
  • GROWTH FORMS: Herbs
  • HABITATS: Sandy
  • TYPES: Perennial
  • REMARKS: Very common in the UAE: Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Fujairah. The plant can become long in old age and is often found lying on the sand resembling a piece of black hose.
Flora of the United Arab Emirates V1 & 2, Fawzi M.Karim, Nael M.Fawzi; reviewed by Fatima Al-Ansary. Al-Ain: United Arab Emirates University, 2007. https://www.floraofqatar.com/cynomorium_coccineum.htm Karim FM and Dakheel AG. Salt-tolerant plants of the United Arab Emirates. 2006. International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE. Encyclopedia of medicinal plants of UAE 1&2 from Zayed complex for herbal Research & traditional medicine, AD. M.V.D jongbloed, G.R. Fuelner, B. Boer, A.R. Western. the comprehensive guide to the wild flowers of the United Arab Emirates. Environmental research and wildlife Development agency, Abu Dhabi, 2003.
Highly salt tolerant. underground part of stem boiled and eaten. Aphrodisiac, laxative, tonic, astringent, spermatopoietic, used to treat constipation, dysentery, bleeding during pregnancy, impotence in men. In UAE the aerial parts grilled and eaten fresh as a tonic and nutritive. Toothpaste, and a non-fading crimson fabric dye.

A fleshy, blackish-red, leafless, erect herb, 5-40 cm high. destitute of chlorophyll and stomata, stems cylindrical, stout, unbranched, browinsh-red, with few deciduous scales ending in long flowering part spadix-like, 3-12 cm long and 2-4 cm broad, of numerous, small, densely-croowded flowers, which coverd with many red or purple protruding stamens. 

Flowering in spring.
Parasitic on the roots of other desert plants, e.g., Chenopodiaceae and Zygophyllaceae, mostly found in compacted sands and coastal salty regions.
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