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Forsskaolea tenacissima
Desert Nettle (Forsskaolea tenacissima) is a hardy, woody-based annual or short-lived subshrub of arid and semi-arid deserts, with stiff, hairy stems that appear after rain. It is grown mainly as a curiosity or for xeriscape and desert collections, and it needs full sun and very well-drained soil.
Forsskaolea tenacissima is a member of the non-stinging nettles genus Forsskaolea and is in the same family as the stinging kind, Urticaceae. Described as "looking like a tough character that does not want or need a caress", F. tenacissima makes its home where not many plant species survive, in stony soils, road edges, in the gravel wadi
and "in the rock crevices and water-receiving depressions" above the stone pavements of the Hamadas.
Common in arid and semi-arid waste lands in sandy clay gravelly soils from sea level to 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) like Mediterranean woodlands and shrublands, semi-steppe shrublands, shrub-steppes, deserts and extreme deserts.
The inner bark is used by natives in Sahara for manufacturing rope.
Forsskaolea angustifolia · Forsskaolea procridifolia · Forsskaolea
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Forsskaolea tenacissima by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
