Description :

• Perennial herbs
• Stems terete below, angled above, much branched
• Leaves alternate, deeply and irregularly pinnatisect, somewhat fleshy; lobes linear-lanceolate, apices acute; stipules small, linear, acute
• Flowers solitary, pedicellate
• Calyx deeply divided, 4-lobed; lobes 3-toothed, leaf-like
• Petals 4 or 5, oblong or obovate, white
• Disc annular
• Stamens 10-15; anthers linear
• Ovary globose, 3-lobed; style simple
• Fruit a 3-lobed capsule, globose, stipitate
• Seeds with endosperm
• x = 12 (11) (polyploidy)

Classification Notes:

• Takhtajan: 332 (1997) includes the genus in the Peganaceae

Nomenclature:

• *Peganum L.
  • Linnaeus: 444 (1753)
  • Candolle: 712 (1824)
  • Engler: 90 (1897)
  • Engler: 154 (1931)
  • Webb: 205 (1968)

Distribution & Notes:

• Global : Species ± 6, mainly in the Mediterranean area
• Southern Africa : Species 1: * Peganum harmala L., an introduced perennial herb, has become a weed in parts of the Little Karoo near Oudtshoorn (SE Western Cape) and in the vicinity of Kenhardt (Northern Cape)