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  • COMMON NAME: Apple of Sodom,Sodom apple, Stabragh,king's crown, Rubber bush, Rubber tree.
  • ARABIC: أشخر، عشار، العشر
  • BOTANICAL NAME: Calotropis procera (Aiton) W.T.Aiton
  • SYNONYMS: Asclepias procera Aiton
  • FAMILY: ASCLEPIADACEAE
  • KIND: Native
  • EMIRATE: Abu-Dhabi , Dubai , Sharjah , Ras-Al-Khaimah , Fujairah
  • CATEGORIES: Medicinal (M) Landscape (L) Apiculture (A) Other Uses (O)
  • GROWTH FORMS: Shrubs
  • HABITATS: Sandy
  • TYPES: Perennial
  • REMARKS: Toxicity: poisonous. Milky latex rich in triterpenes. The milky sap contains a complex mix of chemicals, some of which are steroidal heart poisons known as "cardiac aglycones". These belong to the same chemical family as similar ones found in foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea). The plant contains steroidal components that are the cause of its toxicity. In the case of the Calotropis glycosides, their names are calotropin, calotoxin, calactin, uscharidin and voruscharin. The “milky liquid” of the plant causes infections, and its milk is a deadly poison, and it can cause blindness, so one should beware of using it or directly touching it. Plants used by honeybees for nectar collection for honey production. Dominate in heavily grazed areas, because livestock avoid eating it. Wadi Wurayah National Park (WWNP).
Karim FM and Dakheel AG. Salt-tolerant plants of the United Arab Emirates. 2006. International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE. https://www.floraofqatar.com/calotropis_procera.htm https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105264544 https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1004515-2#synonyms Gary R. Feulner. 2014. The Flora of Wadi Wurayah National Park Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. V.V. Byalt, V.M. Korshunov, M.V. Korshunov. Cadaster of the Flora of Fujairah Emirate (United Arab Emirates). Al Fujairah 2021. 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.
Ornamental plant. Moderately salt-tolerant. Honey nectar plants. Leaves and the latex used for treating wounds, pain, and scorpion stings and for strengthening muscles affected by paralysis. Bark of the root also used medicinally. Letax used to treat all kinds of skin ailments, toothach. Podered dried leaves smokes for asthma. Fresh leaves applied in cases of sunburn and to releive pain of scorpion stings. Underbark split into fine strand was made into strong, short threads, used to extract teeth or remove warts, as well as for repiring and decorating houshold items. Ash from woody roots and stems was used to make gun-powder. Hairs attached to seeds were used to stuff pillows.

Bushy plant, grey in colour, stout, 1-3 meters high, with milky juice, many branched, tomentose. Stems with white corky bark. Leaves 8-20cm long,
sessile, broadly ovate or obovate, fleshy, cottony. Flowers big, in umbel-like cymes. Corolla rotate, campanulate, 5-lobed, about 2cm in diameter, lobes
ovate, acute, spreading, dark purple at tip; centre of corrolla whitish, outside greenish. Follicles 5-15cm in diameter, green, ovoid or ellipsoid, smooth. Seeds many, small, with long pappus. Flowering almost from March-September.

sandy soil and gravel.
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