Assessment of plant diversity of endemic species of the Saharo-Arabian region in Egypt

Asmaa S ABO HATAB; Yassin M AL-SODANY; Kamal H SHALTOUT; Soliman A HAROUN; Mohamed M EL-KHALAFY

doi:10.1007/s40333-024-0102-3

Journal of Arid Land >

2024 , Vol. 16 >Issue 7: 1000 - 1021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-024-0102-3

Research article

Assessment of plant diversity of endemic species of the Saharo-Arabian region in Egypt

Asmaa S ABO HATAB ¹ ,
Yassin M AL-SODANY ¹ ,
Kamal H SHALTOUT ² ,
Soliman A HAROUN ¹ ,
Mohamed M EL-KHALAFY ^,¹^,^*

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¹Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh 33511, Egypt
²Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta 31527, Egypt

* Mohamed M EL-KHALAFY (E-mail: mohamed_elkhalfy91@sci.kfs.edu.eg)

Received date: 2024-01-25

Revised date: 2024-05-24

Accepted date: 2024-06-05

Online published: 2025-08-14

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Abstract

Savanna, semi-deserts, and hot deserts characterize the Saharo-Arabian region, which includes Morocco, Mauretania, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, southern Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India. Its neighboring regions, the Sudano-Zambezian region belonging to the Paleotropical Kingdom and the Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian regions included in the Holarctic Kingdom, share a large portion of their flora with the Saharo-Arabian region. Despite the widespread acknowledgment of the region's global importance for plant diversity, an up to date list of the Saharo-Arabian endemics is still unavailable. The available data are frequently insufficient or out of date at both the whole global and the national scales. Therefore, the present study aims at screening and verifying the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants and determining the phytogeographical distribution of these taxa in the Egyptian flora. Hence, a preliminary list of 429 Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt was compiled from the available literature. Indeed, by excluding the species that were recorded in any countries or regions outside the Saharo-Arabian region based on different literature, database reviews, and websites, the present study has reduced this number to 126 taxa belonging to 87 genera and 37 families. Regarding the national geographic distribution, South Sinai is the richest region with 83 endemic species compared with other eight phytogeographic regions in Egypt, followed by the Isthmic Desert (the middle of Sinai Peninsula, 53 taxa). Sahara regional subzone (SS1) distributes all the 126 endemic species, Arabian regional subzone (SS2) owns 79 taxa, and Nubo-Sindian subzone (SS3) distributes only 14 endemics. Seven groups were recognized at the fourth level of classification as a result of the application of the two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) to the Saharo-Arabian endemic species in Egypt, i.e., I Asphodelus refractus group, II Agathophora alopecuroides var. papillosa group, III Anvillea garcinii group, IV Reseda muricata group, V Agathophora alopecuroides var. alopecuroides group, VI Scrophularia deserti group, and VII Astragalus schimperi group. It's crucial to clearly define the Saharo-Arabian endemics and illustrate an updated verified database of these taxa for a given territory for providing future management plans that support the conservation and sustainable use of these valuable species under current thought-provoking devastating impacts of rapid anthropogenic and climate change in this region.

Key words： endemism; phytogeographical regions; Saharo-Arabian floristic region; Egyptian flora; plant diversity; two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN)

Cite this article

Asmaa S ABO HATAB , Yassin M AL-SODANY , Kamal H SHALTOUT , Soliman A HAROUN , Mohamed M EL-KHALAFY . Assessment of plant diversity of endemic species of the Saharo-Arabian region in Egypt[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2024 , 16(7) : 1000 -1021 . DOI: 10.1007/s40333-024-0102-3

1 Introduction

The desert biome includes a number of geographic regions distinguished by a high level of aridity, a significant amount of bare soil, and some organisms that have developed specific adaptations to survive in a very dry climate (Ezcurra et al., 2006). According to Costanza et al. (2014), deserts occupy almost 33.0% of the Earth's surface. Deserts are susceptible to climate variability due to their hot climate and water scarcity issues (Meigs, 1953; El-Nesr et al., 2010). Based on the rate of precipitation, Wickens (1998) divided the world's desert areas into three categories: semi-arid areas, which receive an average of between 200 and 400 mm of precipitation annually; arid areas, which receive less than 200 mm of precipitation annually; and hyper-arid areas, with an average of 12 months without precipitation. There are several different types of deserts in the world, including coastal, tropical and subtropical, rain shadow, continental interior, and polar deserts (Marshak, 2015); usually, these deserts are found in rocky or sandy landscapes (Smith and Pettorelli, 2020). The climates of deserts and semi-deserts are characterized by major continental rain shadows and subtropical high-pressure belts (Keith et al., 2020). On the other hand, the impacts of atmospheric stability can be increased by a combination of geographic, topographic, and oceanographic factors. For example, the location and size of Sahara and Arabian deserts are influenced by the high-pressure belt that lies over the Tropic of Cancer and the effects of continental (Nash, 2012).

As with all types of desert geomorphology, Saharo-Arabian floristic region has deep-rooted plants and shaded therophytes, salt and limestone crusts, and biotic crusts that stabilize sand dunes (Breckle et al., 2001). The Saharo-Arabian region also belongs to shield deserts that formed above very old crystalline floors, which were cracked and reinforced by pressure and heat during many millions of years, resulting in gently sloping swells and basins that retain the best groundwater sources (Ezcurra et al., 2006). Some deserts, such as the Sonoran-Chihuahuan region of the United States and Mexico and the Karoo of South Africa, are key biodiversity hotspots on a global scale (Myers et al., 2000), supporting human cultures and providing a variety of local and international ecosystem services (McClung et al., 2019). The Sahara Desert and the nearby arid Sahel are habitats for high number of endemic species and a patchy distribution region of other species that are limited to small, vulnerable, and humid habitats (Brito et al., 2014). Isolated and remnant bodies of water (lakes, seasonal rivers, and oases) surrounded by sand act as refugia for relict populations and serve as sites for the evolution of rare species (Trape, 2013). Indeed, the presence of water in drylands is a powerful predictor of species richness and community distribution (Cornwell and Ackerly, 2009).

The Saharo-Arabian region, from a phytogeographic perspective, is the vast desert belt that stretches eastward from the Atlantic coast of Morocco and Mauritania, through the Sahara Desert, Sinai Peninsula, extra tropical Arabia, southern Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, and terminates in the deserts of India and Pakistan (Sind Provinece, Thar Desert, and Punjab Province) (Zohary, 1973). Its borders are the Mediterranean region in the north and west, the Irano-Turanian region in the east, and the Sudano-Zambezian region and the Tropic of Cancer in the south. It is characterized by extremely dry air, high temperatures, and little precipitation (Heine, 1962). Because of the length of dry season, the low continentality index, and mild winters, the Saharo-Arabian region as a whole differs climatically from its neighbors, particularly the Irano-Turanian neighborhood (Léonard, 1988). Precipitation during the summer in the Saharo-Arabian region varies significantly geographically between the west of Sahara Desert and its east. It is commonly believed that topographic heterogeneity raises the endemism rate (Djamali et al., 2012). According to White and Léonard (1991), they divided the Saharo-Arabian region into three subzones: Sahara regional subzone (SS1), Arabian regional subzone (SS2), and Nubo-Sindian subzone (SS3). White and Léonard (1991) stated that the majority of Egypt excepting for the Mediterranean coastal strip and Elba Mountains is located in the SS1 zone.

White and Léonard (1991) revised the approach of Zohary (1973) and extended the Somalia-Masai regional center of endemism and the Afro-Montane archipelago-like regional center of endemism into southwestern Arabia and divided Saharo-Sindian zone into SS1, SS2, and SS3. The SS1 subzone includes Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. The SS2 subzone represents the eastern Saharo-Arabian of Zohary (1973), including Palestine, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, and south of Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. And the SS3 subzone represents the old Sudano-Decanian tropical vegetation of Zohary (1973), including south of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India.

Endemic taxa are those that are found only in a certain place and represent an essential feature of spatial distribution (Morrone, 2008). Because they have distinctive genetic materials and are capable of satisfying the fundamental necessities of people, endemic plants are highly valued (Skarbek, 2008). However, they are more vulnerable to changes in the environment and threats caused by humans. Because of this, endemic plants are more likely to become extinct. As a result, conserving endemic plants is regarded as a global concern (El-Khalafy et al., 2021a). Manes et al. (2021) stated that globally, endemic species are three times more likely to become extinct than native species. Endemism is mentioned as a stage before extinction by Hobohm et al. (2014). As a result, endemic plants are the focus of most global conservation efforts, which are mostly carried out in situ through protected areas, ex situ through gardening, and cryo-conservation through the banks of seeds and biotechnological approaches (Coelho et al., 2020).

Few endemic species and genera, as well as none endemic families, are characteristics of the Saharo-Arabian region, according to Wickens (1977) and Boulos (1997). The vegetation of the deserts in Egypt is certainly a unique type of natural plant life (El-Amier and Abdul-Kader, 2015). According to Moustafa (1990) and El-Khalafy et al. (2021a), South Sinai Mountains are a significant habitat for Egypt's endemism because they have larger outcrops of rare species-supporting smooth-faced rocks and a more humid climate than much of the rest of Sinai Peninsula (Danin, 1972, 1978, 1983). Therefore, the mountainous southern Sinai Peninsula has a higher biodiversity as compared with the rest of Egypt (Abd El-Ghani et al., 2017).

Deserts are a significant conservation concern because of their great biodiversity, uniqueness, and rising survival hazards. The future survival of deserts and their species relies on developing strategies for conservation that are capable of dealing with the challenges provided by rapidly shifting climatic conditions. Regional biodiversity knowledge is typically lacking or outdated (Brito et al., 2018). There is no enough data about the list of endemic plant species of the Saharo-Arabian region in Egypt and the vegetation distribution map of these species. Therefore, an accurate list of endemic species is necessary to understand species diversity in regions under heavy anthropogenic impact. It can be utilized as a baseline reference for future monitoring programs as well as to offer data for future in situ and ex situ conservation planning activities. So, this study aims to provide an authenticated database of endemic plant species of the Saharo-Arabian region in Egypt and study the national and global distribution of these species.

2 Materials and methods

2.1 Study area

Less than 25.0% of Egypt's land area is in the south of the Tropic of Cancer, and it is located between latitudes 22° and 32°N, and longitudes 24° and 36°E (Egypt is primarily in the temperate zone). The study area of Egypt includes: the Western Desert except the western Mediterranean coast that extends for an average distance of 45-50 km in north-south direction from the coast (Bidak et al., 2013), the Eastern Desert with Red Sea except the Gebel Elba Mountains, the Sinai Peninsula except the eastern Mediterranean coast that extends for an average distance of 10-15 km in north-south direction from the coast (Zahran et al., 1985), and the Nile Valley and Nile Delta except the coastal land of northern delta that extends for 15-25 km in north-south direction from the coast (Zahran and Willis, 2009). The Saharo-Arabian region in this study includes: Morocco, Mauretania, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, southern Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, as well as northern India (21 countries in total). Due to lack of data, Western Sahara is not included in the research scope of this paper. Lebanon belongs to the Mediterranean region, so Lebanon is also not included in this paper.

2.2 Data sources and verification literature

2.2.1 Endemic species

The preliminary list of the Saharo-Arabian endemics was compiled from three primary sources that researched the plants of this region. These sources include Bornkamm and Kehl (1990), Boulos (1999-2005), and Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017). Indeed, Boulos (1999-2005) recorded 199 Saharo-Arabian endemic species in the Egyptian flora, while Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017) recorded 187 taxa and Bornkamm and Kehl (1990) recorded 102 Saharo-Arabian endemic species in the Western Desert region of Egypt. All the plants identified in these studies as the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants were included in the preliminary list. Finally, we got a preliminary list with 429 taxa (Table S1).

Table S1 Updated list of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)
1	Abutilon pannosum (G.Forst.) Schltdl.	Malvaceae	Angola, Burkina, Cameroon, Cape Verde, and Chad (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
1	Abutilon pannosum (G.Forst.) Schltdl.	Malvaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Abutaha et al. (2020)	×		×	√
2	Aeluropus littoralis (Gouan) Parl.	Poaceae	Baleares, Bulgaria, and France, and Spain (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
2	Aeluropus littoralis (Gouan) Parl.	Poaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
3	Aerva javanica (Burm.f.) Juss. ex Schult.	Amaranthaceae	Botswana, Burkina, Cameroon, Cape Verde, and Chad (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
3	Aerva javanica (Burm.f.) Juss. ex Schult.	Amaranthaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
4	Agathophora alopecuroides var. alopecuroides (Delile) Fenzl ex Bun	Amaranthaceae			√		√	√
5	Agathophora alopecuroides var. papillosa (Maire) Boulos	Amaranthaceae			√		√	√
6	Allium crameri Asch. & Boiss.	Amaryllidaceae	Bardawil Lake and Mediterranean coast of Rafah (ME)	CAIM (1998); Nada et al. (2013); and El-Khalafy et al. (2021a, b)	●		√
7	Allium decaisnei C. Presl	Amaryllidaceae			√		√
8	Allium papillare Boiss.	Amaryllidaceae	Bardawil Lake and Rafah (ME)	CAIM (1928); Boulos (1999-2005); El-Garf (2000); and El-Bana (2009)	●		×
9	Allium rothii Zucc.	Amaryllidaceae			√		√
10	Allium sinaiticum Boiss.	Amaryllidaceae			√		√
11	Anabasis articulata (Forssk.) Moq.	Amaranthaceae	Spain (ME)	GBIF	×	√	×	×
11	Anabasis articulata (Forssk.) Moq.	Amaranthaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt, Rafah and Sallum (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); Khafagi et al. (2005); Amer et al. (2020); and Gamal et al. (2022)	×	√	×	×
12	Anarrhinum forskaohlii subsp. pubescens D. A. Sutton	Plantaginaceae			√		√
13	Anastatica hierochuntica L.	Brassicaceae	Canary Islands (ME)	POWO	×	√	×	√
			Sudan and Eritrea (SZ)	POWO
			Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
14	Anthemis melampodina subsp. deserti (Boiss.) Eig	Asteraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Täckholm (1974); Boulos (1999-2005); Fakhry and Al-Anazi (2017); and Osman and Abdein (2019)	●		×	√
15	Anthemis melampodina subsp. melampodina	Asteraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Täckholm (1974); Boulos (1999-2005); Fakhry and Al-Anazi (2017); and Osman and Abdein (2019)	●		×	√
16	Anthemis scrobicularis Yavin	Asteraceae			√		√
17	Anthemis zoharyana Eig	Asteraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Täckholm (1974)	●		√
18	Anvillea garcinii (Burm. f.) DC.	Asteraceae			√		√
19	Argyrolobium saharae Pomel	Fabaceae			√		√
20	Aristida funiculata Trin. & Rupr.	Poaceae	Burkina, Cape Verde, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Niger, Kenya, Senegal, and Somalia (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×
			Mediterranen coast in Lybia (ME)	Al-Sghair et al. (2019)
			Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)
21	Arnebia hispidissima (Sieber ex Lehm.) A.DC.	Boraginaceae	Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Niger, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
21	Arnebia hispidissima (Sieber ex Lehm.) A.DC.	Boraginaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
22	Arnebia tinctoria Forssk.	Boraginaceae			√		√
23	Artemisia judaica L.	Asteraceae	Chad (SZ)	GBIFand POWO	●		×	√
23	Artemisia judaica L.	Asteraceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●		×	√
24	Artemisia monosperma Delile	Asteraceae	Al-Arish (North Sinai), Burg El-Arab, Burullus Wetland, and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); Al-Sodany (2009); and Badr et al. (2012)	●		×	√
25	Asphodelus refractus Boiss.	Asphodelaceae			√		√
26	Asphodelus viscidulus Boiss.	Asphodelaceae	El Burullus and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Galal and Fawzy (2007)	●		×
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
27	Asteriscus graveolens (Forssk.) Less.	Asteraceae	Canary Islands (ME)	GBIFand POWO	×		×	√
			Chad and Mali (SZ)	GBIFand POWO
			Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
28	Astragalus amalecitanus Boiss.	Fabaceae			√		√
29	Astragalus annularis Forssk.	Fabaceae	Lebanon (ME)	GBIF	●	√	×	×
29	Astragalus annularis Forssk.	Fabaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt, Rosetta, and Sallum (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); El-Hawiet et al. (2010); and Amer et al. (2020)	●	√	×	×
30	Astragalus arpilobus subsp. hauarensis (Boiss.) Podlech	Fabaceae	North of Iran (IT)	GBIF	●	√	×
30	Astragalus arpilobus subsp. hauarensis (Boiss.) Podlech	Fabaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Täckholm (1974) and Boulos (1999-2005)	●	√	×
31	Astragalus bombycinus Boiss.	Fabaceae	North of Iran (IT)	Asri (2004) and Osman et al. (2014)	●		√	×
32	Astragalus camelorum Barbey	Fabaceae	El-Arish and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Täckholm (1974) and CAI (1986)	●		√
33	Astragalus caprinus L.	Fabaceae	Cyprus, and Sicilia (ME)	GBIFand POWO	×		×	√
			Iran and Turkey (IT)	Flora of Libya
			Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
34	Astragalus dactylocarpus subsp. acinaciferus (Boiss.) E. Ott	Fabaceae			√		√
35	Astragalus eremophilus Boiss.	Fabaceae	Chad, Eritrea, and Sudan (SZ)	Khdery et al. (2019) and POWO	×	×	×	√
35	Astragalus eremophilus Boiss.	Fabaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
36	Astragalus fresenii Decne	Fabaceae			√		√
37	Astragalus hispidulus DC.	Fabaceae	Coastal area in Libya (ME)	Baayo (2008)	×	√	×	√
37	Astragalus hispidulus DC.	Fabaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt and Burg el Arab (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and GBIF	×	√	×	√
38	Astragalus intercedens Sam. ex Rech.f.	Fabaceae			√		√
39	Astragalus kahiricus DC.	Fabaceae	North of Iran, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (IT)	Rahimi and Atri (2013); Flora of Libya; GBIF; and POWO	×		√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
40	Astragalus palaestinus Eig	Fabaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Danin and Fragman-Sapir (2016)	●		√
41	Astragalus peregrinus subsp. peregrinus Vahl.	Fabaceae	Greece and Kriti (ME)	Flora of Greece (2023) and POWO	●	√	×	√
41	Astragalus peregrinus subsp. peregrinus Vahl.	Fabaceae	El-Arish and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Badr and Sharawy (2007)	●	√	×	√
42	Astragalus sanctus Boiss.	Fabaceae			√		√
43	Astragalus schimperi Boiss.	Fabaceae			√		√	√
44	Astragalus sieberi DC.	Fabaceae	Alexandria El-Alamein desert road, Burullus Wetland, and Matrouh road (ME)	Al-Sodany (2009) and Abd El-Ghani et al. (2021)	●		√	√
45	Astragalus sparsus Decne	Fabaceae			√		√
46	Astragalus trigonus DC	Fabaceae	Chad, Mali, Niger, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
46	Astragalus trigonus DC	Fabaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
47	Astragalus vogelii (Webb) Bornm.	Fabaceae	Cape Verde, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	×	×	√
48	Atractylis boulosii Tackh.	Asteraceae			√		√
49	Atractylis carduus (Forssk.) C. Chr.	Asteraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt and Turkey (ME)	Flora of Libya and POWO	×		×	√
49	Atractylis carduus (Forssk.) C. Chr.	Asteraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Täckholm (1974) and Boulos (1999-2005	×		×	√
50	Atractylis mernephthae Asch. & Schweinf. & Letourn.	Asteraceae			√		√	√
51	Atractylis prolifera Boiss.	Asteraceae	Coastal area of Libya and Spain (ME)	Flora of Libya and GBIF	●		×
51	Atractylis prolifera Boiss.	Asteraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt, and the northwestern coastal desert of Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Bidak et al. (2015)	●		×
52	Atractylis serratuloides Sieber ex Cass.	Asteraceae	Coastal area of Libya (ME)	Flora of Libya	●		√
52	Atractylis serratuloides Sieber ex Cass.	Asteraceae	North of Sinai (ME)	Täckholm (1974)	●		√
53	Atraphaxis spinosa var. sinaica (Jaub. & Spach) Boiss.	Polygonaceae			√		√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
54	Atriplex coriacea Forssk.	Amaranthaceae	Somalia (SZ)	GBIF	●		×
54	Atriplex coriacea Forssk.	Amaranthaceae	Alexandria, Matrouh, and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	CAI (1959); Boulos (1999-2005)	●		×
55	Atriplex dimorphostegia Kar. et Kir.	Amaranthaceae	Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China (IT)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	√	×
56	Atriplex farinosa Forssk.	Amaranthaceae	Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		√	√
57	Atriplex glauca L.	Amaranthaceae	Canary Islands, Madeira, Portugal, and Spain (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×
58	Atriplex portulacoides L.	Amaranthaceae	Albania, Baleares, Belgium, Canary Islands, Cyprus, and Denmark (ME)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017); GBIF; and POWO	×	×	×	√
58	Atriplex portulacoides L.	Amaranthaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
59	Atriplex turcomanica (Moq.) Boiss.	Amaranthaceae	Kazakhstan, Transcaucasus, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (IT)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	√	×
60	Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh.	Acanthaceae	Cape Provinces, Eritrea, and Kenya (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
61	Ballota kaiseri Tackh.	Lamiaceae			√		√
62	Bassia arabica (Boiss.) Maire & Weiller	Amaranthaceae	Mariut and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Squires and Ayoub (1994); Boulos (1999-2005); and Turki et al. (2006)	●	√	×
63	Bellevalia desertorum Eig & Feinbrun	Asparagaceae			√		√
64	Bellevalia eigii Feinbrun	Asparagaceae	Burg el Arab, Mariut, Mediterranen coast in Egypt, and Sallum (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); Amer at al. (2020); and GBIF	●		×
65	Bellevalia flexuosa var. galalensis Tackh. & Drar	Asparagaceae			√		√
66	Bellevalia zoharyi Feinbrun	Asparagaceae			√		√
67	Biarum olivieri Blume	Araceae	Bardawil Lake, Damiette, and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); El-Sheikh (2013); and GBIF	×		√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
68	Blepharis attenuata Napper	Acanthaceae	West and central Jordan (IT)	Danin and Fragman-Sapir (2016)	●		√
69	Blepharis edulis (Forssk.) Pers.	Acanthaceae	Angola, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
70	Blumea bovei (DC.) Vatke	Asteraceae	Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×
71	Brassica deserti Danin & Hedge	Brassicaceae	El-Arish and north Sinai (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Shehata and Kamel (2007)	●		√
72	Brocchia cinerea (Delile) Vis.	Asteraceae	Ethiopia, Mali, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	√
72	Brocchia cinerea (Delile) Vis.	Asteraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×	√
73	Bufonia multiceps Decne.	Caryophyllaceae			√		√
74	Calendula tripterocarpa Rupr.	Asteraceae	France and Spain (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×		√
75	Calotropis procera (Aiton) W. T. Aiton	Apocynaceae	Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
75	Calotropis procera (Aiton) W. T. Aiton	Apocynaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
76	Campanula dulcis Decne.	Campanulaceae			√		√
77	Capparis cartilaginea Decne.	Capparaceae	Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Tanzania (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
77	Capparis cartilaginea Decne.	Capparaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
78	Capparis spinosa var. aegyptia (Lam.) Boiss.	Capparaceae	Greece, Kriti, and Turkey (ME)	GBIFand POWO	×	√	×	√
79	Carduus getulus Pomel	Asteraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●	√	×
80	Caroxylon imbricatum (Forssk.) Moq.	Amaranthaceae	Chad, Eritrea, Gebel Elbar, Senegal, Somalia, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
80	Caroxylon imbricatum (Forssk.) Moq.	Amaranthaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Elkordy et al. (2022)	×	×	×	√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
81	Caroxylon tetragonum (Delile) Moq.	Amaranthaceae	Matrouh and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Turki (1999) and Boulos (1999-2005)	●	√	×
82	Caroxylon tetrandrum (Forssk.) Akhani & Roalson	Amaranthaceae	Canary Islands and Spain (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and GBIF	●	√	×	×
83	Caroxylon villosum (Schult.) Akhani & Roalson	Amaranthaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt and north of Syria (ME)	Mosallam (2007) and GBIF	●		√	×
83	Caroxylon villosum (Schult.) Akhani & Roalson	Amaranthaceae	The northwestern coastal desert of Egypt (ME)	Bidak et al. (2015)	●		√	×
84	Caroxylon volkensii (Schweinf. & Asch.) Akhani & Roalson	Amaranthaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); El-Shamy (2016); and Alghanem et al. (2020)	●		×
85	Carrichtera annua (L.) DC.	Brassicaceae	Canary Islands, Cyprus, Greece, Kriti, and Portugal (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	×	×	√
86	Carthamus eriocephalus (Boiss.) Greuter	Asteraceae	Matrouh (ME)	El-Zanaty et al. (2010)	●		×	√
87	Phonus mareoticus (Delile) G.López	Asteraceae	Alexandria and Sallum (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Salama et al. (2005)	×	√	×	√
88	Caudanthera sinaica (Decne.) Plowes	Apocynaceae	South of Yemen and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		√
89	Caylusea hexagyna (Forssk.) M.L. Green	Resedaceae	Cape Verde, Chad, Eritrea, Mali, Niger, Somalia, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
89	Caylusea hexagyna (Forssk.) M.L. Green	Resedaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
90	Cenchrus divisus (J.F.Gmel.) Verloove, Govaerts & Buttler	Poaceae	Chad, Eritrea, Niger, and Somalia (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
91	Centaurea aegyptiaca L.	Asteraceae	Sudan (SZ)	POWO	●		×	√
91	Centaurea aegyptiaca L.	Asteraceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●		×	√
92	Centaurea ammocyanus Boiss.	Asteraceae	Lebanon (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●		×
92	Centaurea ammocyanus Boiss.	Asteraceae	North of Iran (IT)	GBIF	●		×
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
93	Centaurea glomerata Vahl	Asteraceae	Italy and Spain (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
93	Centaurea glomerata Vahl	Asteraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); Shaltout et al. (2018); and Hamed et al. (2021)	×	×	×	√
94	Centaurea pallescens Delile	Asteraceae	Lebanon, France, and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); Hamed et al. (2021); GBIF; Euro+Med); Flora of Lebanon; and GBIF	×	√	×
95	Centaurea scoparia Sieber ex Spreng	Asteraceae			√		√	√
96	Centaurea sinaica DC.	Asteraceae			√		√	√
97	Centaurium malzacianum Maire	Gentianaceae			√		√
98	Chiliadenus montanus (Vahl) Brullo	Asteraceae			√		√
99	Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad.	Cucurbitaceae	Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina, Cape Verde, Chad, Cyprus, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ) and Canary Islands (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	×	×	√
99	Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad.	Cucurbitaceae	Mediterranean coast in Egypt (ME)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)	×	×	×	√
100	Cleome arabica L	Cleomaceae	Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Niger, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		√	√
101	Cleome brachycarpa Vahl ex DC.	Cleomaceae	Cape Verde, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
101	Cleome brachycarpa Vahl ex DC.	Cleomaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
102	Cleome chrysantha Decne.	Cleomaceae	Sudan and Ethiopia (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
102	Cleome chrysantha Decne.	Cleomaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
103	Cleome droserifolia (Forssk.) Delile	Cleomaceae	Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
103	Cleome droserifolia (Forssk.) Delile	Cleomaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
104	Cebatha pendula (J. R. Forst. & G. Forst.) Kuntze	Menispermaceae	Cape Verde, Ethiopia, and Somalia (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
104	Cebatha pendula (J. R. Forst. & G. Forst.) Kuntze	Menispermaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
105	Colchicum guessfeldtianum Asch. & Schweinf.	Colchicaceae			√		√
106	Colchicum ritchii R.Br.	Colchicaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Flora of Libya	●		×
107	Colchicum schimperi Janka ex Stef	Colchicaceae	El Arish (ME)	CAI (1965)	●		√
108	Cometes surattensis Burm.f.	Caryophyllaceae	South of Oman (SZ), India, Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan (IT)	Al-Sherif et al. (2013) and POWO	●		√
109	Commicarpus boissieri (Heimerl) Cufod.	Nyctaginaceae	South of Oman and south of Yemen (SZ)	GBIF	×		√
110	Convolvulus fatmensis Kunze	Convolvulaceae	Chad, Mali, and Sudan (SZ)		×	√	×
110	Convolvulus fatmensis Kunze	Convolvulaceae	Lebanon and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×
111	Convolvulus hystrix Vahl	Convolvulaceae	Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
111	Convolvulus hystrix Vahl	Convolvulaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
112	Convolvulus lanatus Vahl	Convolvulaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt, and Tukey (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and POWO	●	√	×	√
113	Convolvulus schimperi Boiss.	Convolvulaceae			√		√
114	Convolvulus spicatus Peter ex Hallier f.	Convolvulaceae			√		√
115	Cornulaca monacantha Delile	Amaranthaceae	Chad, Mali, and Niger (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
115	Cornulaca monacantha Delile	Amaranthaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
116	Cotoneaster orbicularis Schltdl.	Rosaceae			√		×
117	Crataegus sinaica Boiss.	Rosaceae	Cyprus and Turkey (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×		√
118	Crepis nigricans Viv.	Asteraceae			√		√
119	Crotalaria aegyptiaca Benth.	Fabaceae	Somalia (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	●		√	√
120	Crucianella ciliata Lam.	Rubiaceae			√		√	×
121	Crucianella membranacea Boiss.	Rubiaceae	Lebanon (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●		×
122	Crucihimalaya kneuckeri (Bornm.) Al-Shehbaz, O'Kane & R. A. Price	Brassicaceae			√		√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
123	Cucumis prophetarum L	Cucurbitaceae	Benin, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
124	Cullen plicatum (Delile) C. H. Stirt.	Fabaceae	Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, Sudan, and Somalia (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
125	Cuprella homalocarpa (Fisch. & C. A. Mey.) Salmerón-Sánchez, Mota & Fuertes	Brassicaceae	North of Sinai (ME)	Täckholm (1974)	●		×
126	Cuscuta pedicellata Ledeb.	Convolvulaceae	Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×	√
			Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, and Russia (IT) and South European (ME)	GBIF and POWO
			Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
127	Cutandia memphitica (Spreng.) K. Richt.	Poaceae	Canary Islands, Cyprus, North Caucasus, Spain, Tadzhikistan, and Transcaucasus (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×	×
127	Cutandia memphitica (Spreng.) K. Richt.	Poaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×	×
128	Cymbopogon iwarancusa (Jones ex Roxb.) Schult.	Poaceae	China and Vietnam (IT)	GBIF and POWO	×		√
129	Cynanchum acutum L	Apocynaceae	South Europe, Mediterranen coast in Egypt, Spain, and Ukraine (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and GBIF	×	×	×	√
130	Cyperus capitatus Vand.	Cyperaceae	Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, and Kriti (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×
131	Cyperus conglomeratus Rottb.	Cyperaceae	Burkina, Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, and Kenya (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×	×
131	Cyperus conglomeratus Rottb.	Cyperaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×	×
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
132	Cyperus laevigatus L.	Cyperaceae	Angola, Botswana, Burundi, and Cape Verde (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×
			Canary Islands (ME)	GBIF and POWO
			Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
133	Daucus sahariensis Murb.	Apiaceae			√		√
134	Delphinium bovei Decne.	Ranunculaceae	Eastern Mediterranean coastal region (ME)	Täckholm (1974)	●		√
135	Desmostachya bipinnata (L.) Stapf.	Poaceae	Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	√	√
136	Deverra tortuosa (Desf.) DC.	Apiaceae	Coastal area of Libya and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Flora of Libya	●	√	×	√
137	Deverra triradiata Hochst. ex Boiss.	Apiaceae	West of Iraq (IT)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2011)	●		√	√
138	Dianthus guessfeldtianus Muschl.	Caryophyllaceae			√		√
139	Dianthus monadelphus subsp. judaicus (Boiss.) Greuter & Burdet	Caryophyllaceae			√		√
140	Dianthus sinaicus Boiss.	Caryophyllaceae			√		√
141	Diplotaxis acris (Forssk.) Boiss.	Brassicaceae	Turkey and Spain (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and POWO	×	√	×	√
141	Diplotaxis acris (Forssk.) Boiss.	Brassicaceae	Chad (SZ)	POWO	×	√	×	√
142	Diplotaxis harra (Forssk.) Boiss.	Brassicaceae	Sicilia and Spain (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
142	Diplotaxis harra (Forssk.) Boiss.	Brassicaceae	Somalia (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
143	Ducrosia ismaelis Asch.	Apiaceae			√		√
144	Echinops glaberrimus DC.	Asteraceae			√		√
145	Echinops taeckholmianus Amin	Asteraceae	Baltim and Rosetta (ME)	CAI (1987) and El-Khalafy et al. (2021a, b, 2004)	×		√	×
146	Echiochilon fruticosum Desf.	Boraginaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME) and east of Lebanon (IT)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Hamed et al. (2021)	×	×	×	√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
147	Echium angustifolium Mill.	Boraginaceae	Cyprus, Greece, Kriti, and Turkey (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
147	Echium angustifolium Mill.	Boraginaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
148	Echium horridum Batt.	Boraginaceae	Canary Islands (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
			Mali and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO
			Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)
149	Echium longifolium Delile	Boraginaceae	Ethiopia and Sudan (SZ)	CAI (1973) and GBIF	×		√
149	Echium longifolium Delile	Boraginaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Täckholm (1974)	×		√
150	Echium rauwolfii Delile	Boraginaceae	Sudan (SZ)	POWO	×		×	√
			Cyprus (ME)	POWO
			Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
151	Echium rubrum Forssk.	Boraginaceae	Russia and Spain (ME)	GBIF	×	√	×
151	Echium rubrum Forssk.	Boraginaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×
152	Enarthrocarpus strangulatus Boiss.	Brassicaceae	The western Mediterranean coastal land in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Turki and El Shayeb (2005)	●	√	×
153	Ephedra alata Decne.	Ephedraceae	Chad and Mali (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×	×
153	Ephedra alata Decne.	Ephedraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)	×	√	×	×
154	Ephedra aphylla Forssk.	Ephedraceae	Cyprus (ME)	POWO	●	√	×	√
154	Ephedra aphylla Forssk.	Ephedraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt and Rosetta (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Abdel-Kader et al. (2003)	●	√	×	√
155	Ephedra pachyclada subsp. sinaica (Riedl) Freitag & Maier-St.	Ephedraceae			√		√
156	Eragrostis aegyptiaca (Willd.) Delile	Poaceae	Burkina, Chad, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×
156	Eragrostis aegyptiaca (Willd.) Delile	Poaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
157	Eremobium aegyptiacum subsp. aegyptiacum (Spreng.) Asch. ex Boiss.	Brassicaceae	Chad (SZ)	Khalik (2005)	×	√	×	√
157		Brassicaceae	Arish, Burg El Arab, and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); CAI (2004); and TANE (2010)	×	√	×	√
158	Eremobium aegyptiacum var. lineare (Delile) Zohary	Brassicaceae			√		√
159	Eremogone sinaica (Boiss.) Dillenb. & Kadereit	Caryophyllaceae			√		√
160	Erigeron bonariensis L.	Asteraceae	South of America and Western Europe (ES)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×	×
161	Erodium arborescens (Desf.) Willd.	Geraniaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Mahklouf (2020)	●	√	√	√
162	Erodium crassifolium L'Hér.	Geraniaceae	Cyprus and Kriti (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	●	√	×	√
163	Erodium glaucophyllum (L.) L'Hér.	Geraniaceae	Italy (ME)	POWO	×		×	√
			Sudan (SZ)	POWO
			Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Täckholm (1974) and Boulos (1999-2005)
			Northwestern of Jordan (IT)	Flora of Libya
164	Erodium oxyrhinchum M.Bieb.	Geraniaceae	Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region, China (IT)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
164	Erodium oxyrhinchum M.Bieb.	Geraniaceae	Southwest of Saudi Arabia (SZ)	Danin and Fragman-Sapir (2016)	×		×	√
165	Erodium pulverulentum (Boiss.) Batt.	Geraniaceae	Eritrea (SZ)	POWO	×	√	×	√
			Spain (ME)	POWO
			Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
			North of Iran (IT)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
166	Erodium touchyanum Delile ex Godr.	Geraniaceae	Canary Islands and Cyprus (ME)	POWO	●		√	√
167	Erucaria pinnata (Viv.) Täckh. & Boulos	Brassicaceae	Burg Elarab, Matrouh, and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	CAI (1979); Boulos (1999-2005); and TANE (2006)	●		×
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
168	Euphorbia granulata Forssk	Euphorbiaceae	Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, and Kenya (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
168	Euphorbia granulata Forssk	Euphorbiaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
169	Euphorbia grossheimii (Prokh.) Prokh.	Euphorbiaceae	Transcaucasus (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	●		×
170	Euphorbia obovata Decne.	Euphorbiaceae			√		√
171	Euphorbia retusa Forssk.	Euphorbiaceae	France (ME)	GBIF	●	√	×	√
171	Euphorbia retusa Forssk.	Euphorbiaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●	√	×	√
172	Farsetia aegyptia Turra	Brassicaceae	Chad, Mali, and Sudan (SZ)	Danin and Fragman-Sapir (2016) and POWO	×	×	×	√
172	Farsetia aegyptia Turra	Brassicaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
173	Farsetia stylosa R. Br.	Brassicaceae	Cameroon, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mali (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	×
174	Ferula sinaica Boiss.	Apiacaea	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Täckholm (1974)	●		√
175	Ficus palmata Forssk.	Moraceae	Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
176	Galium aparine L.	Rubiaceae	Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Gebel Elbarmany, Greece, and Ireland (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
177	Galium ceratopodum Boiss.	Rubiaceae	Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, and other places of Central Asia (IT)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
178	Galium sinaicum (Delile ex Decne) Boiss.	Rubiaceae			√		√
179	Galium tricornutum Dandy	Rubiaceae	Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Gebel Elbarmany, Greece, and Italy (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
179	Galium tricornutum Dandy	Rubiaceae	Central Asia (IT) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
180	Glaucium arabicum Fresen.	Papaveraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●		×
181	Glinus runkewitzii Tackh. & Boulos	Molluginaceae			√		√
182	Gymnocarpos decander Forssk.	Caryophyllaceae	Canary Islands (ME)	POWO	●	×	×	√
182	Gymnocarpos decander Forssk.	Caryophyllaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)	●	×	×	√
183	Gymnocarpos sclerocephalus (Decne.) Dahlgren & Thulin	Caryophyllaceae	Chad, Djibouti, and Eritrea (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
183	Gymnocarpos sclerocephalus (Decne.) Dahlgren & Thulin	Caryophyllaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
184	Gomphocarpus sinaicus Boiss.	Apocynaceae			√		√
185	Gypsophila capillaris (Forssk.) C.Chr.	Caryophyllaceae	North of Syria (IT)	Danin and Fragman-Sapir (2016) and GBIF	●		×	√
185	Gypsophila capillaris (Forssk.) C.Chr.	Caryophyllaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)	●		×	√
186	Halopeplis perfoliata (Forssk.) Bunge ex Ung.-Sternb.	Amaranthaceae	Eritrea and Sudan (SZ)	POWO	×		×	√
186	Halopeplis perfoliata (Forssk.) Bunge ex Ung.-Sternb.	Amaranthaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
187	Haloxylon negevensis (Iljin & Zohary) L.Boulos	Amaranthaceae			√		√
188	Haplophyllum poorei C.C.Towns.	Rutaceae			√		√
189	Haplophyllum tuberculatum (Forssk.) A. Juss.	Rutaceae	Chad, Somalia, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×	√
189	Haplophyllum tuberculatum (Forssk.) A. Juss.	Rutaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×	√
190	Helianthemum kahiricum Delile	Cistaceae	Cyprus (ME)	POWO	×	√	×	√
190	Helianthemum kahiricum Delile	Cistaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Makhlouf (2020)	×	√	×	√
191	Helianthemum lippii (L.) Dum.Cours.	Cistaceae	Italy and Kriti (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
			Chad and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO
			Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
192	Helianthemum sancti-antoni Schweinf. ex Boiss.	Cistaceae			√		√
193	Helianthemum schweinfurthii Grosser	Cistaceae			√		√	√
194	Helianthemum stipulatum (Forssk.) C. Chr.	Cistaceae	Djibouti and Somalia (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×
			Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey (ME)	GBIF and POWO
			Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
195	Helianthemum ventosum Boiss.	Cistaceae			√		√
196	Heliotropium arbainense Fresen.	Boraginaceae	Ethiopia and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
197	Heliotropium bacciferum Forssk.	Boraginaceae	Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
197	Heliotropium bacciferum Forssk.	Boraginaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
198	Heliotropium digynum (Forssk.) Asch. ex C.Chr.	Boraginaceae	The western Mediterranean coastal land (ME)	Turki and El Shayeb (2005)	×		×	√
			Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
			West of Iraq (IT)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
199	Herniaria hemistemon J. Gay	Caryophyllaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt and Sallum (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Amer at al. (2020)	×	√	×	√
199	Herniaria hemistemon J. Gay	Caryophyllaceae	North of Syria (IT)	Makhlouf (2020) and GBIF (2023)	×	√	×	√
200	Heteroderis pusilla (Boiss.) Boiss.	Asteraceae	Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (IT)	GBIF and POWO	×		√
201	Hippocrepis areolata Desv.	Fabaceae	France and Mediterranen coast (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and POWO	●	√	×
202	Hippocrepis constricta Kunze	Fabaceae	Chad, Sudan, and Tanzania (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		√	×
203	Hyoscyamus boveanus (Dunal) Asch. & Schweinf.	Solanaceae			√		√	√
204	Hyoscyamus desertorum (Asch. ex Boiss.) Täckh.	Solanaceae	Arish and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and GBIF	●		×	×
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
205	Hyoscyamus pusillus L.	Solanaceae	Central Asia, and south European Russia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China (IT)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
206	Hypecoum aegyptiacum (Forssk.) Asch. & Schweinf.	Papaveraceae	El Kawm El Akhdar Island and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and TANE (2000)	●		×
207	Hypecoum aequilobum Viv.	Papaveraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●		×
208	Hypericum sinaicum Hochst. ex Boiss.	Hypericaceae			√		√
209	Ifloga spicata subsp. hadidii (Fayed & Zareh) Greuter	Asteraceae	Arish and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and GBIF	●	√	×
210	Iphiona mucronata (Forssk.) Asch. & Schweinf.	Asteraceae			√		√	√
211	Iphiona scabra DC. ex Decne.	Asteraceae	Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
211	Iphiona scabra DC. ex Decne.	Asteraceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
212	Iris mariae Barbey	Iridaceae	Bardawil Lake and Rafah (ME)	El Banna (2009) and GBIF	×		√
213	Isatis microcarpa J. Gay ex Boiss.	Brassicaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●		×
214	Kickxia aegyptiaca subsp. aegyptiaca (L.) Nábělek	Plantaginaceae	Chad and Sudan (SZ)	POWO	×	×	×	√
214	Kickxia aegyptiaca subsp. aegyptiaca (L.) Nábělek	Plantaginaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Danin and Fragman-Sapir (2016)	×	×	×	√
215	Kickxia floribunda (Boiss.) Täckh. & Boulos	Plantaginaceae	Arish (ME)	Täckholm (1974); El-Hadidi et al. (1999); and GBIF	●		√
216	Lasiurus scindicus Henrard	Poaceae	Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, Somalia, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
216	Lasiurus scindicus Henrard	Poaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
217	Lathyrus hirsutus L.	Fabaceae	France, Greece, Poland, and Portugal (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
218	Lathyrus sphaericus Retz.	Fabaceae	France, Greece, and Hungary (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×
218	Lathyrus sphaericus Retz.	Fabaceae	Eritrea and Ethiopia (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×
219	Launaea amal-aminiae N. Kilian	Asteraceae	Gebel Elba and Halayeb Triangle (SZ)	Zareh et al. (2016) and Marzouk et al. (2021)	●		√	√
220	Launaea angustifolia (Desf.) Kuntze	Asteraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Täckholm (1974)	●		√
221	Launaea capitata (Spreng.) Dandy	Asteraceae	Chad, Eritrea, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	√
221	Launaea capitata (Spreng.) Dandy	Asteraceae	Canary Islands (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	√
222	Launaea mucronata (Forssk.) Muschl	Asteraceae	Chad, Eritrea, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	√
223	Launaea mucronata subsp. cassiniana (Jaub. & Spach) N.Kilian	Asteraceae	Chad and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	√
224	Launaea spinosa (Forssk.) Sch. Bip. Ex Kuntze	Asteraceae			√		√	√
225	Lavandula atriplicifolia Benth.	Lamiaceae			√		√
226	Lavandula coronopifolia Poir.	Lamiaceae	Cape Verde, Chad, and Djibouti (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
227	Lepidium niloticum (Delile) Sieber ex Steud.	Brassicaceae	Chad and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	√
228	Leptadenia arborea (Forssk.) Schweinf	Apocynaceae	Burkina, Cameroon, Chad, and Djibouti (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
229	Leptadenia pyrotechnica (Forssk.) Decne	Apocynaceae	Burkina, Cameroon, Chad, Djibouti, and Eritrea (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
230	Leobordea platycarpa (Viv.) B. E. van Wyk & Boatwr.	Fabaceae	Angola, Botswana, Chad, and Central African Republic (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		√	×
231	Limonium axillare (Forssk.) Kuntze	Plumbaginaceae	Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
232	Limonium pruinosum (L.) Chaz.	Plumbaginaceae	El Alamein, north coast of the Nile Delta in Egypt, and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); El-Amier et al. (2014); and GBIF	×	√	×	√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
233	Lindenbergia indica (L.) Vatke	Orobanchaceae	Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
234	Lobularia arabica (Boiss.) Muschl.	Brassicaceae	Greece (ME)	El-Amier (2016) and Flora of Greece	×	√	×
234	Lobularia arabica (Boiss.) Muschl.	Brassicaceae	Deltaic Mediterranean coast and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×
235	Lotus hebranicus Hochst. ex Brand	Fabaceae	Sudan (SZ)	Sokoloff (2001) and POWO	●		×	√
236	Lotus glinoides Delile	Fabaceae	Chad, Eritrea, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	√
237	Lotus lanuginosus Vent.	Fabaceae			√	√	√
238	Lupinus digitatus Forssk.	Fabaceae	Senegal (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	●		√	×
239	Lycium shawii Roem. & Schult.	Solanaceae	Botswana, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
239	Lycium shawii Roem. & Schult.	Solanaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
240	Lygeum spartum Loefl. ex L.	Poaceae	Italy, Kriti, Mediterranen coast in Libya, and Spain (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; Flora of Libya); and POWO	×	×	×	√
241	Malcolmia pygmaea (DC.) Boiss.	Brassicaceae	Ale×andria, El Arish, and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	CAI (1992); Boulos (1999-2005); and GBIF	×	√	×
242	Malva ludwigii (L.) Soldano, Banfi & Galasso	Malvaceae	Mediteranrn coast (ME)	Asri (2004)	×	×	×	√
242	Malva ludwigii (L.) Soldano, Banfi & Galasso	Malvaceae	Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (IT)	POWO	×	×	×	√
243	Matthiola arabica Boiss.	Brassicaceae			√		√	√
244	Matthiola longipetala subsp. hirta (Conti) Greuter & Burdet	Brassicaceae	Mariut (ME)	GBIF	×	√	×
			Turkey (IT)	POWO
			Mediterranen coast in Libya (ME)	Flora of Libya
245	Matthiola longipetala subsp. livida (Delile) Maire	Brassicaceae	Canary Islands (ME)	POWO	×	√	×	√
245	Matthiola longipetala subsp. livida (Delile) Maire	Brassicaceae	Burg el arab and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Marzouk et al. (2010)	×	√	×	√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
246	Matthiola longipetala subsp. longipetala (Vent.) DC.	Brassicaceae	Cyprus, Turkey, and Uzbekistan (IT)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	√	×
247	Medicago laciniata (L.) Mill.	Fabaceae	Botswana, Djibouti, and Ethiopia (SZ)	POWO	×	√	×	√
			Canary Islands (ME)	POWO
			Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
248	Melilotus serratifolius Tackh. & Boulos	Fabaceae			√		√
249	Mesembryanthemum cryptanthum Hook.f.	Aizoaceae	Angola, Cape Verde, and Namibia (SZ)	Danin and Fragman-Sapir (2016) and POWO	×	×	×	√
249	Mesembryanthemum cryptanthum Hook.f.	Aizoaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
250	Micromeria serbaliana Danin & Hedge	Lamiaceae			√		√
251	Micromeria sinaica Benth.	Lamiaceae			√		√
252	Microparacaryum intermedium (Fresen.) Hilger & Podlech	Boraginaceae	Kazakhstan, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, and West Himalaya (IT)	GBIF and POWO	×		√	×
252	Microparacaryum intermedium (Fresen.) Hilger & Podlech	Boraginaceae	Eritrea (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		√	×
253	Monsonia heliotropioides (Cav.) Boiss.	Geraniaceae	Chad, NiGebel Elbar, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
254	Monsonia nivea (Decne.) Webb	Geraniaceae	Chad, NiGebel Elbar, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); Danin and Fragman-Sapir (2016); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	√
255	Morettia canescens Boiss.	Brassicaceae	Chad, Mali, and Niger (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		√
256	Morettia parviflora Boiss.	Brassicaceae	South of Yemen (SZ)	GBIF	●		√
257	Morettia philaeana (Delile) DC.	Brassicaceae	Chad, Mali, NiGebel Elbar, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	×	×	√
258	Moricandia nitens (Viv.) E. A. Durand & Barratte	Brassicaceae	Alamein, Burg El arab, and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); Marzouk et al. (2010); and GBIF	×	×	×	√
259	Moricandia sinaica (Boiss.) Boiss.	Brassicaceae	Somalia (SZ)	Abdullah and Al-Dosari (2022); GBIF; and POWO	●		√	√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
260	Muscari eburneum (Eig & Feinbrun) D.C.Stuart	Lamiaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Täckholm (1974)	●		√
261	Muscari longipes subsp. negevense (Feinbrun & Danin) Hosni	Lamiaceae			√		√
262	Najas pectinata (Parl.) Magnus	Hydrocharitaceae	Chad, Guinea, Mali, and Senegal (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		√
263	Nanorrhinum acerbianum (Boiss.) Betsche	Plantaginaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●		×	√
264	Nanorrhinum macilentum (Decne.) Betsche	Plantaginaceae	Chad and Sudan (SZ)	Brundu and Camarda (2013) and POWO	●		√
265	Nasturtiopsis integrifolia (Boulos) Abdel Khalik & F.T.Bakker	Brassicaceae	El Arish (ME)	GBIF	●		√
266	Nepeta septemcrenata Ehrenb. ex Benth.	Lamiaceae			√		√
267	Neurada procumbens L.	Neuradaceae	Chad, Eritrea, Mali, Niger, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
			Cyprus (ME)	GBIF and POWO
			Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
268	Nidorella aegyptiaca (L.) J. C. Manning & Goldblatt	Asteraceae	Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Guinea (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×
269	Nitraria retusa (Forssk.) Asch.	Nitrariaceae	Senegal and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
269	Nitraria retusa (Forssk.) Asch.	Nitrariaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
270	Ochradenus baccatus Delile	Resedaceae	Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
270	Ochradenus baccatus Delile	Resedaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
271	Ogastemma pusillum (Coss. & Durieu ex Bonnet & Barratte) Brummitt	Boraginaceae	Canary Islands (ME)	POWO	●		√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
272	Oligomeris linifolia (Vahl ex Hornem.) J. F. Macbr.	Resedaceae	Canary Islands and Kriti (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	√
			Chad (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO
			China (IT)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO
273	Onobrychis ptolemaica (Delile) DC.	Fabaceae	Turkey (IT)	GBIF and TÜBİVES (2023)	●		√
274	Onopordum ambiguum Fresen.	Asteraceae	Centre of Jordan (IT)	Rabei et al. (2021)	●	×	√
275	Origanum isthmicum Danin	Lamiaceae			√		√
276	Origanum syriacum subsp. sinaicum (Boiss.) Greuter & Burdet	Lamiaceae			√		√
277	Pallenis hierichuntica (Michon) Greuter	Asteraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
			Canary Islands (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and POWO
			East Iran (IT)	Flora of Libya
278	Pancratium sickenbergeri Asch. & Schweinf.	Amaryllidaceae	Bardawil Lake, El Borollos, and Omayed (ME), and Elba Mountain (SZ)	TANE (2000) and El-Bana (2009)	×		√
279	Panicum turgidum Forssk.	Poaceae	Benin, Burkina, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ)	Danin and Fragman-Sapir (2016); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	×
280	Papaver decaisnei (Elkan) Hochst. & Steud. ex Boiss.	Papaveraceae	Burg El-Arab and Mersa Matruh (ME)	Taia (2009)	×		√
280	Papaver decaisnei (Elkan) Hochst. & Steud. ex Boiss.	Papaveraceae	Russia (IT)	GBIF	×		√
281	Paronychia arabica subsp. arabica (L.) DC.	Caryophyllaceae	Chad (SZ)	POWO	●	×	×	√
281	Paronychia arabica subsp. arabica (L.) DC.	Caryophyllaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●	×	×	√
282	Paronychia sinaica Fresen.	Caryophyllaceae			√		√
283	Pergularia tomentosa L.	Apocynaceae	Benin, Burkina, Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Mali, and Niger (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
283	Pergularia tomentosa L.	Apocynaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
284	Periploca aphylla subsp. aphylla Decne.	Apocynaceae	South of Yemen and South of Oman (SZ)	Danin and Fragman-Sapir (2016) and GBIF	×		√
285	Persicaria obtusifolia (Täckh. & Boulos) Greuter & Burdet	Polygonaceae			√		√
286	Petrorhagia arabica (Boiss.) P. W. Ball & Heywood	Caryophyllaceae			√		√
287	Phagnalon barbeyanum Asch. & Schweinf.	Asteraceae	Matrouh and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Täckholm (1974); Sabri et al. (1992); and Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×	√
288	Phagnalon nitidum Fresen.	Asteraceae	Ethiopia (SZ)	GBIF	●		√
289	Phagnalon sinaicum Bornm. & Kneuck.	Asteraceae			√		√
290	Phlomis aurea Decne.	Lamiaceae			√		√
291	Phoenix dactylifera L.	Arecaceae	Canary Islands (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	×	×	√
			Benin, Cape Verde, and Chad (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO
			China (IT)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO
292	Picris cyanocarpa Boiss.	Asteraceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Täckholm (1974)	●		√	√
293	Picris sulphurea Delile	Asteraceae			√		√
294	Pimpinella schweinfurthii Asch.	Apiaceae			√		√
295	Pistacia khinjuk Stocks	Anacardiaceae			√		√
296	Plantago amplexicaulis subsp. bauphula (Edgew.) Rech.f.	Plantaginaceae	Spain (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and POWO	●		×	×
297	Plantago cylindrica Forssk.	Plantaginaceae	El Arish, Mediterranen coast in Egypt, and the way between Burg El Arab and El Alamin (ME)	CAI (1964) and Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
298	Plantago sinaica (Barneoud) Decne.	Plantaginaceae			√		√
299	Plicosepalus acaciae (Zucc.) Wiens & Polhill	Loranthaceae	Chad, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
300	Plicosepalus curviflorus (Benth. exoliv.) Tiegh	Loranthaceae	Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
300	Plicosepalus curviflorus (Benth. exoliv.) Tiegh	Loranthaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
301	Pluchea dioscoridis (L.) DC.	Asteraceae	Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×	×
301	Pluchea dioscoridis (L.) DC.	Asteraceae	Lebanon (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×	×
302	Podonosma galalensis Schweinf. ex Boiss.	Boraginaceae			√		√
303	Polycarpaea repens (Forssk.) Asch. & Schweinf.	Caryophyllaceae	Chad, Niger, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005) and POWO	×	×	×	√
303	Polycarpaea repens (Forssk.) Asch. & Schweinf.	Caryophyllaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
304	Polycarpaea robbairea (Kuntze) Greuter & Burdet	Caryophyllaceae	Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Mali, Niger, Somalia, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
304	Polycarpaea robbairea (Kuntze) Greuter & Burdet	Caryophyllaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
305	Polycarpon succulentum J.Gay	Caryophyllaceae	Bardawil Lake and Sallum (ME)	El Bana (2009) and Amer et al. (2020)	×	√	×
305	Polycarpon succulentum J.Gay	Caryophyllaceae	Lebanon (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×
306	Polygala sinaica var. glabrescens (Zohary) Boulos	Polygalaceae			√		√
307	Polygala sinaica var. sinaica Botsch.	Polygalaceae			√		√
308	Evotrochis involucrata Raf.	Primulaceae			√		√
309	Pseuderucaria clavata (Boiss. & Reut.) O.E. Schulz	Brassicaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●		×	√
310	Pseuderucaria teretifolia (Desf.) O. E. Schulz	Brassicaceae			√	√	√
311	Pteranthus dichotomus Forssk.	Caryophyllaceae	Canary Islands, Cyprus, and Sicilia (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	×	×	√
312	Pterocephalus arabicus Boiss.	Caprifoliaceae			√		√
313	Pterocephalus sanctus Decne.	Caprifoliaceae			√		√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
314	Pulicaria incisa (Lam.) DC.	Asteraceae	Benin, Burkina, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
314	Pulicaria incisa (Lam.) DC.	Asteraceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
315	Pulicaria sicula (L.) Moris	Asteraceae	Albania, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, and Sicilia (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×		√
316	Pulicaria undulata (L.) C. A. Mey.	Asteraceae	Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	√
317	Pycnocycla tomentosa Decne.	Apiaceae			√		√
318	Reaumuria hirtella Jaub. & Spach	Tamariaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt and the northern coastal region of Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Abozeed (2014)	×	×	×	√
319	Reaumuria hirtella var. palaestina (Boiss.) Zohary & Danin	Tamariaceae	North of Syria (ME)	GBIF	●		√
320	Reaumuria negevensis Zohary & Danin	Tamariaceae			√		√
321	Reseda alba L.	Resedaceae	Albania, Cyprus, France, and Greece (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
321	Reseda alba L.	Resedaceae	Eritrea (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
322	Reseda arabica Boiss.	Resedaceae	Burg El Arab, El Arish, and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); CAI (2012); and El-Ahmir et al. (2020)	×		×	√
323	Reseda decursiva Forssk.	Resedaceae	Chile and Spain (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×	√
323	Reseda decursiva Forssk.	Resedaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×	√
324	Reseda muricata C. Presl	Resedaceae			√		√
325	Reseda pruinosa Delile	Resedaceae	Ethiopia and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×	√
325	Reseda pruinosa Delile	Resedaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×	√
326	Reseda stenostachya Boiss.	Resedaceae			√		√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
327	Retama raetam (Forssk.) Webb & Berthel.	Fabaceae	Greece and Sicilia (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×	√
			Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO
			Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
328	Rhamnus disperma Ehrenb. ex Boiss.	Rhamnaceae			√		×
329	Rhamphospermum arvense (L.) Besser	Brassicaceae	lbania, Altay, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Gebel Elbarmany, and Greece (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×
329	Rhamphospermum arvense (L.) Besser	Brassicaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×
330	Rhazya greissii Tackh. & Boulos	Apocynaceae			√		√
331	Rhazya stricta Decne.	Apocynaceae	South of Yemen (SZ)	GBIF	●		√
332	Rhynchosia minima (L.) DC.	Fabaceae	Angola, Benin, and Botswana (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
333	Robeschia schimperi (Boiss.) O. E. Schulz	Brassicaceae	Central Iran and Syria (IT)	GBIF	×		√
334	Rosa arabica (Crép. ex Boiss.) Déségl.	Rosaceae			√		√
335	Rostraria rohlfsii (Asch.) Holub	Poaceae	Chad and Niger (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		√
336	Rumex aegyptiacus L.	Polygonaceae	France (ME)	GBIF	×		√
336	Rumex aegyptiacus L.	Polygonaceae	Burg El Arab and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	El-Khalafy et al. (2021a, b) and Balah and Hozyan (2022)	×		√
337	Rumex cyprius Murb	Polygonaceae	Cyprus (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	×	×	√
337	Rumex cyprius Murb	Polygonaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
338	Rumex dentatus L.	Polygonaceae	Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Greece (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
			China (IT)	GBIF and POWO
			Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
339	Rumex pictus Forssk.	Polygonaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt and Rosetta (ME)	Danin and Fragman-Sapir (2016); Abd El-Aal et al. (2019); and GBIF	×		√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
340	Rumex simpliciflorus Murb.	Polygonaceae	Chad and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
340	Rumex simpliciflorus Murb.	Polygonaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
341	Salvadora persica L.	Salvadoraceae	Angola, Botswana, Burkina, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, and Niger (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
341	Salvadora persica L.	Salvadoraceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)	×		×	√
342	Salvia aegyptiaca L.	Lamiaceae	Chad, Eritrea, Mali, and Niger (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	×
			Canary Islands (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO
			Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
343	Salvia deserti Decne.	Lamiaceae			√		√
344	Savignya parviflora (Delile) Webb	Brassicaceae	El Dabaa (ME)	CAI (2021)	●		√	√
344	Savignya parviflora (Delile) Webb	Brassicaceae	East of Iran (IT)	Osman et al. (2014) and Flora of Libya	●		√	√
345	Scabiosa eremophila Boiss.	Caprifoliaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt and Omayed (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Ahmed et al. (2015)	●		×
346	Schimpera arabica Hochst. & Steud.	Brassicaceae			√	√	√	√
347	Schouwia purpurea (Forssk.) Schweinf.	Brassicaceae	Burkina, Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Mali, and Niger (SZ)	Alyasi (2020); GBIF; and POWO (2023	×	√	×	√
347	Schouwia purpurea (Forssk.) Schweinf.	Brassicaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×	√
348	Scorzonera drarii V.Tackh.	Asteraceae			√		√
349	Scorzonera schweinfurthii Boiss.	Asteraceae			√		√
350	Scrophularia deserti Delile	Scrophulariaceae			√		√	√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
351	Scrophularia hypericifolia Wydler	Scrophulariaceae	North of Iran (IT)	Feyzi et al. (2014); Veiskarami and Sharifi-Tehrani (2017); and GBIF	×		√
352	Senecio aegyptius L.	Asteraceae	Ethiopia and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×
352	Senecio aegyptius L.	Asteraceae	Cyprus (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×
353	Senecio belbeysius Delile	Asteraceae			√		√
354	Senecio flavus (Decne.) Sch. Bip	Asteraceae	Canary Islands and Spain (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
			Chad, Namibia, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO
			Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)
355	Senna holosericea (Freseu) Greuter	Fabaceae	Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
355	Senna holosericea (Freseu) Greuter	Fabaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
356	Senna italica Mill.	Fabaceae	Benin (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	×	×	√
			Colombia and Jamaica (ES)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO
			Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005) and Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
357	Setaria verticillata (L.) P.Beauv.	Poaceae	Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, and Cameroon (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	×
358	Silene arabica Boiss.	Caryophyllaceae			√		√	×
359	Silene hussonii Boiss.	Caryophyllaceae			√		√
360	Silene leucophylla Boiss.	Caryophyllaceae			√		√
361	Silene linearis Decne.	Caryophyllaceae			√		√	√
362	Silene odontopetala var. congesta Boiss.	Caryophyllaceae			√		√
363	Silene oreosinaica Chowdhuri	Caryophyllaceae			√		√
364	Silene schimperiana Boiss.	Caryophyllaceae			√		√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
365	Silene villosa var. graveolens Sickenb.	Caryophyllaceae			√		√
366	Silene vivianii subsp. viscida (Boiss.) Boulos	Caryophyllaceae			√		√
367	Silene vivianii subsp. vivianii Steud.	Caryophyllaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
368	Soda schweinfurthii (Solms) Akhani	Amaranthaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●	√	×
369	Solenostemma oleifolium (Nectoux) Bullock & E.A. Bruce	Apocynaceae	Chad, Mali, Niger, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
370	Sporobolus spicatus (Vahl) Kunth	Poaceae	Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	×
370	Sporobolus spicatus (Vahl) Kunth	Poaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME) and SZ	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)	×	√	×	×
371	Stachys aegyptiaca Pers.	Lamiaceae			√		√	√
372	Stipagrostis drarii (Tackh.) de Winter	Poaceae			√		√
373	Stipagrostis multinerva H. Scholz	Poaceae	East of Iran (IT)	GBIF	●		√
374	Stipagrostis plumosa (L.) Munro ex T.Anderson	Poaceae	Chad, Cyprus, Mali, and Niger (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×	×
374	Stipagrostis plumosa (L.) Munro ex T.Anderson	Poaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×	×
375	Stipagrostis vulnerans (Trin. & Rupr.) De Winter	Poaceae	Chad, Mali, Niger, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×
376	Suaeda aegyptiaca (Hasselq.) Zohary	Amaranthaceae	Djibouti and Eritrea (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	√
376	Suaeda aegyptiaca (Hasselq.) Zohary	Amaranthaceae	Cyprus (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	√
377		Amaranthaceae	Italy (ME)	GBIF	×	√	×
	Suaeda fruticosa Forssk. ex J. F. Gmel.		Somalia (SZ)	GBIF
			Mexico (ES)	GBIF
378	Suaeda monoica Forssk. ex J. Gmelin	Amaranthaceae	Botswana, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×	×
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
379	Suaeda vermiculata Forssk. ex J.F.Gme	Amaranthaceae	Chad, Djibouti, and Eritrea (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
379	Suaeda vermiculata Forssk. ex J.F.Gme	Amaranthaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
380	Tamarix amplexicaulis Ehrenb.	Tamaricaceae	Chad, Mali, and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×
381	Tamarix aphylla (L.) H. Karst	Tamaricaceae	Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Niger (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×	√
381	Tamarix aphylla (L.) H. Karst	Tamaricaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×	√
382	Tamarix nilotica (Ehrenb.) Bunge	Tamaricaceae	Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×	×
			Greece (ME)	GBIF and POWO
			Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME	Boulos (1999-2005)
383	Tamarix passerinoides Delile ex Decne.	Tamaricaceae	Turkmenistan and Russia (IT)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	√	×
			Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO
			Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
384	Tamarix tetragyna Ehrenb.	Tamaricaceae	Cyperus (ME)	POWO	×	√	×	×
			Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)
			Russia (IT)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
385	Tanacetum sinaicum (Fresen.) Delile ex K.Bremer & Humphries	Asteraceae			√		√
386	Taverniera aegyptiaca Boiss.	Fabaceae	Eritrea and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		√	√
386	Taverniera aegyptiaca Boiss.	Fabaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Täckholm (1974)	×		√	√
387	Telephium sphaerospermum Boiss.	Caryophyllaceae	Somalia, South of Yemen (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	●	√	√
388	Tephrosia kassasii Boulos	Fabaceae			√		√
389	Tephrosia purpurea subsp. apollinea (Delile) Hosni & El-Karemy	Fabaceae	Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×	√
389		Fabaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×	√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
390	Tephrosia purpurea subsp. leptostachya (DC.) Brummitt	Fabaceae	Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Tropical Africa (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
391	Teucrium decaisnei C. Presl	Lamiaceae			√		√
392	Teucrium leucocladum Boiss.	Lamiaceae			√		√
393	Teucrium polium L.	Lamiaceae	France, Morocco, and Spain (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
393	Teucrium polium L.	Lamiaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	×	×	√
394	Thymelaea hirsuta (L.) Endl	Thymelaeaceae	Baleares, Cyprus, France, Greece, and Italy (ME)	GBIF and POWO	×	×	×	√
394	Thymelaea hirsuta (L.) Endl	Thymelaeaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)	×	×	×	√
395	Thymus bovei Benth.	Lamiaceae			√		√
396	Thymus decussatus Benth.	Lamiaceae			√		√
397	Traganum nudatum Delile	Amaranthaceae	Matrouh and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005) and El-Bassossy (2022)	●	√	×	√
398	Tragopogon collinus DC.	Asteraceae	Armenia and Kazakhstan (IT)	GBIF and POWO	×		√
399	Tribulus kaiseri Hosni	Zygophyllaceae			√		√
400	Tribulus megistopterus Kralik	Zygophyllaceae	Chad and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
400	Tribulus megistopterus Kralik	Zygophyllaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
401	Trifolium alexandrinum L	Fabaceae	Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, and Kriti (ME) and Nepal and China (IT)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
401	Trifolium alexandrinum L	Fabaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
402	Trigonella glabra Thunb.	Fabaceae	Djibouti and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×	√	×
402	Trigonella glabra Thunb.	Fabaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×	√	×
403	Trigonella media Delile ex Urb.	Fabaceae			√		√
404	Trigonella schlumbergeri Boiss.	Fabaceae			√		×
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
405	Tripleurospermum auriculatum (Boiss.) Rech.f.	Asteraceae	West of Syria and west of Lebanon (IT)	Boulos (1999-2005) and GBIF	●		×
406	Vachellia flava (Forssk.) Kyal. & Boatwr.	Fabaceae	Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Chad (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	×	×	√
407	Vachellia gerrardi var. najdensis (Chaudhary) Ragup., Seigler, Ebinger & Maslin	Fabaceae	South of Yemen and south of Oman (SZ)	GBIF	●		√
408	Vachellia tortilis subsp. raddiana (Savi) Kyal. & Boatwr	Fabaceae	Burkina, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Kenya (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×	×	×	√
409	Verbascum decaisneanum Kuntze	Scrophulariaceae			√		√
410	Verbascum eremobium Murb.	Scrophulariaceae	Centre of Jordan (IT)	Danin and Fragman-Sapir (2016)	●		√
411	Verbascum fruticulosum Post & Autran	Scrophulariaceae			√		√
412	Verbascum schimperianum Boiss.	Scrophulariaceae			√		√
413	Veronica anagalloides subsp. taeckholmiorum Chrtek & Osb.-Kos.	Plantaginaceae	El Beheira, El-Mahmudia, and Egypt (ME)	CAI (1970)	●		√
414	Veronica kaiseri Tackh.	Plantaginaceae			√		√
415	Vicia sinaica Boulos	Fabaceae	Arish (ME)	El-Khalafy et al. (2021a, b, 2024) and Bedair et al. (2023)	×		√
416	Volutaria sinaica (DC.) Wagenitz	Asteraceae	Chad (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	●		×
416	Volutaria sinaica (DC.) Wagenitz	Asteraceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●		×
417	Zilla spinosa subsp. biparmata (O.E.Schulz) Maire & Weiller	Brassicaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Greuter et al. (1984, 1986, 1989); Boulos (1999-2005); and Greuter and von Raab-Straube (2008)	●	√	×	√
418	Zilla spinosa subsp. spinosa (L.) Prantl	Brassicaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005)	●	√	×	√
419	Ziziphus nummularia (Burm.f.) Wight & Arn.	Rhamnaceae	Southwest of Saudi Arabia (SZ)	Danin and Fragman-Sapir (2016)	●		√
419	Ziziphus nummularia (Burm.f.) Wight & Arn.	Rhamnaceae	North of Pakistan, centre of Iran (IT)	Rauf et al. (2016)	●		√
No.	Species	Family	Exclusion region	Reference and website	The present study	Bornkamm and Kehl (1990)	Boulos (1999-2005)	Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)
420	Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Desf.	Rhamnaceae	Burkina, Cameroon, Chad, Cyprus, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Ghana (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
420	Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Desf.	Rhamnaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
421	Zygophyllum arabicum (L.) Christenh. & Byng	Zygophyllaceae	Chad, Mali, Niger, and Sudan (SZ)	Baayo (2008); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
422	Zygophyllum bruguieri (DC.) Christenh. & Byng	Zygophyllaceae	Chad, Eritrea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, and Sudan (SZ)	GBIF and POWO	×		×	√
422	Zygophyllum bruguieri (DC.) Christenh. & Byng	Zygophyllaceae	Gebel Elba (SZ) and Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
423	Zygophyllum coccineum L.	Zygophyllaceae	Eritrea and Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	●		×	√
424	Zygophyllum decumbens Delile	Zygophyllaceae	Namibia, Somalia, south of Oman, Sudan (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
425	Zygophyllum dumosum Boiss.	Zygophyllaceae			√		√
426	Zygophyllum glutinosum (Delile) Christenh. & Byng	Zygophyllaceae	Chad, Mali, NiGebel Elbar, and Sudan (SZ)	Flora of Libya and POWO	×		×	√
426	Zygophyllum glutinosum (Delile) Christenh. & Byng	Zygophyllaceae	Mediterranen coast in Egypt (ME)	Boulos (1999-2005)	×		×	√
427	Zygophyllum indicum (Burm.f.) Christenh. & Byng	Zygophyllaceae	Chad, Djibouti Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, and Niger (SZ)	Boulos (1999-2005); GBIF; and POWO	×		×	√
428	Zygophyllum molle (Delile) Christenh. & Byng	Zygophyllaceae			√		√	√
429	Zygophyllum scabrum (Forssk.) Christenh. & Byng	Zygophyllaceae			√		√	√

Note: × refers to the excluded species (surely non-Saharo-Arabian endemics), √ refers to the included species (surely Saharo-Arabian endemics), and ● refers to the extended species (species mainly distributed in Saharo-Arabian region but having extensions to neighbouring areas). SA, Saharo-Arabian region; IT, Irano-Turanian region; ME, Mediterranean region; SZ, Sudano-Zambezian region; ES, Euro-Siberian region. The manuscript also referred to Cairo University Herbarium (CAI), Agriculture Museum Herbarium (CAIM), and Tanta University Herbarium (TANE).

Then, the preliminary list of endemic plants of the Saharo-Arabian region in Egypt was assessed to confirm their occurrence by literature analysis. If the taxon was recorded in any countries outside the Saharo-Arabian region, it was excluded from the list. The preliminary list was assessed by the literature listed in Tables 1, 2, and 3. Table 1 shows the articles or books relating to the flora of Egypt; Table 2 shows the literature relating to the floras of other Saharo-Arabian countries; and Table 3 shows websites and global online databases relating to the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants.

Table 1 References of flora of Egypt used for the verification of occurrence of the Saharo-Atabian endemic plants in Egypt

Author	Article or book title	Journal or publisher	Publication year
Abd El-Ghani, Hamdy, and Hamed	Habitat diversity and floristic analysis of Wadi El-Natrun depression, Western Desert, Egypt	Phytologia Balcanica	2015
Ahmed, Shaltout, Hosni, et al.	Flora and vegetation of the different habitats of the western Mediterranean region of Egypt	Taeckholmia	2015
Bedair, Shaltout, Ahmed, et al.	Characterization of the wild trees and shrubs in the Egyptian flora	Egyptian Journal of Botany	2020
Bedair, Ibrahim, Alyamani, et al.	Impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on vegetation dynamics: a case study of Wadi Hagul, Eastern Desert, Egypt	Plants	2021
Bedair, Shaltout, and Halmy	A critical inventory of the Mediterranean endemics in the Egyptian flora	Biodiversity and Conservation	2023
El-Khalafy	Red list of the endemic and near endemic plant species in Egypt	Tanta University	2018
El-Khalafy, Shaltout, and Ahmed	Updating and assessing plant endemism in Egypt	Phytotaxa	2021
El-Khalafy, Ahmed, Shaltout, et al.	Re-assessment of the endemic taxa in the Egyptian Flora	African Journal of Ecology	2021
El-Khalafy	Biodiversity characteristics of endemic taxa in Egyptian flora	Tanta University	2023
El-Khouly and Negm	Management and Development of Agricultural and Natural Resources in Egypt's Desert	Springer Nature	2021
El-Saied, El-Ghamry, Khafagi, et al.	Floristic diversity and vegetation analysis of Siwa Oasis: An ancient agro-ecosystem in Egypt's Western Desert	Annals of Agricultural Science	2015
Kamel, Zaghloul, Abd El-Wahab, et al.	Current status of the flora of North Sinai: losses and gains	Catrina	2008
Salama, Abd El-Ghani, and Gadallah	Diversity and Plant FGs of the Vegetation in Eastern Desert of Egypt	Lambert Academic Publishing	2016
Shaltout, El-Din, and Ahmed	Plant Life in the Nile Delta	Tanta University Press	2010

Table 2 References of floras of other countries in the Saharo-Arabian region used for the verification of occurrence of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

Author	Article or book title	Publisher or journal name	Publication year
Abdullah and Al-Dosari	Vegetation of the State of Kuwait	IUCN and Environment Public Authority of Kuwait	2022
Ali and Jafri	Flora of Libya. Volumes 1-144	University of Tripoli	1976
Almasri, Hmidan, Shater, et al.	Syria country report on the identification of important plant areas (IPAs) in Syria (Rapid assessment)	National Coordinating Organization Syrian Society for Conservation of Wild Life	2010
Chaudhary	Flora of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Volume 1-3	Ministry of Agriculture and Water of Saudi Arabia	1999-2001
El-Gadi	Flora of Libya. Volumes 145-147	University of Tripoli	1986
Feinbrun-Dothan	Flora Palaestina: Part Three, Ericaceae to Compositae	The Israel Academy of Science and Humanities	1978
Feinbrun-Dothan	Flora Palaestina: Part Four. Text. Alismataceae to Orchidaceae.	The Israel Academy of Science and Humanities	1986
Floc'h, Boulos, and Véla	Synonymous Catalog with Commentary of the Flora of Tunisi	Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Tunisia	2010
Ghazanfar	Status of the flora and plant conservation in the Sultanate of Oman	Biological Conservation	1998
Guest	Flora of Iraq, Vol. 1	Ministry of Agriculture of Iraq	1966
Kilian, Hein, and Hubaishan	New and noteworthy records for the flora of Yemen, chiefly of Hadhramout and Al-Mahra	Willdenowia	2002
Meddour, Sahar, and Médail	Checklist of the native tree flora of Algeria: diversity, distribution, and conservation	Plant Ecology and Evolution	2021
Norton, Böer, Allan, et al.	An Illustrated Checklist of the Flora of Qatar	United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)	2009
Taifour	Jordan Plant Red List Volume II	Royal Botanic Garden of Jordan	2017
Taifour and El-Oqlah	Jordan Plant Red List Volume I	Royal Botanic Garden of Jordan	2016
Taleb and Fennane	Vascular Plant Communities of Morocco: Phytosociology, Ecology and Geography	Springer International Publishing	2019
Yaseen, Ahmad, Sultana, et al.	Ethnobotany of medicinal plants in the Thar Desert (Sindh) of Pakistan	Journal of Ethnopharmacology	2015
Zohary	Flora Palaestina Part I	The Israel Academy of Science and Humanities	1968
Zohary	Flora Palaestina Part II	The Israel Academy of Science and Humanities	1987

Table 3 Global online databases utilized for the verification of occurrence of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

Database		Website
African Plant Database	https://africanplantdatabase.ch/en
Algeria Native Plants	https://algerianativeplants.net/html-ang/plante-algerie-recherche.php
Catalogue of Life	http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annualchecklist/2010
Database of Weed Species in Crops and Countries	https://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/thematic-sitemap/theme/biodiversity/weeds/db-countries/l/en/
Euro+Med Plant Base	https://europlusmed.org/
Flora of Greece	https://portal.cybertaxonomy.org/flora-greece/intro
Flora of Israel Online	http://flora.org.il
Flora of Lebanon	http://lebanon-flora.org/
Flora of Libya	https://www.floraoflibya.services.ly/
Flora of Morocco	https://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/floraofmorocco/Explore
Flora of Pakistan	http://www.efloras.org/index.aspx
Flora of Qatar	https://www.floraofqatar.com/
Flora of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia	https://floraofksa.myspecies.info/
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)	https://www.gbif.org/
Global Compositae Database (GCD)	https://www.compositae.org/index.php
Global Plants on JSTOR	https://plants.jstor.org/
Legume Information System (LIS)	https://www.legumeinfo.org/taxa/
National Registry for Egyptian Herbaria	http://networks.asrt.sci.eg/Herbarias/Index?searchBy=Species&Search_Data
Old Dominion University Plant Site: Checklist of Plants of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan	https://ww2.odu.edu/~lmusselm/plant/index.php
Plant Diversity of Saudi Arabia	https://www.plantdiversityofsaudiarabia.info/index.htm
Plants of the Middle East	https://www.plantsofthemiddleeast.com/
Plants of the World Online (POWO)	http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org
Turkish Plants Data Service (TÜBİVES)	http://194.27.225.161/yasin/tubives/index.php
World Plants	https://www.worldplants.de/world-plants-complete-list/complete-plant-list

Data were additionally gathered from field trips. Cairo University, Alexandria University, the herbaria of Kafrelsheikh University, Assiut University, Tanta University, Agriculture Museum of Cairo, National Research Centre of Egypt, Desert Research Center of Egypt, and National Registry for Egyptian Herbaria also provided plant data for the endemic species research. The accessible literature (articles, books, master's theses, doctoral dissertations, and scientific reports) in above mentioned institutes was also used for gathering the information. The taxa in the list were organized alphabetically using the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group IV system (Byng et al., 2016). The accepted name of the recorded taxa was assessed using the World Checklist of selected Plant Families (WCSP) and Plants of the World Online (POWO) websites.

The final checklist of the present study includes three categories: the excluded species (surely non-Saharo-Arabian endemics), the included species (surely Saharo-Arabian endemics), and the extended species (species that are primarily found in the Saharo-Arabian region but extend to nearby regions). This study provides a critical and dynamic checklist of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt (Table S1).

2.2.2 Geographical distribution

In the present study, we identified the phytogeographical sectors according to Täckholm (1974). The system of White and Léonard (1991) was used for the assessment of the recorded taxa's global distribution (floristic regions). We defined the distribution of the taxa that were recorded in the countries of the Saharo-Arabian region depending on several databases (Table 3). Floras of countries in the Saharo-Arabian region were also used for the assessment of recorded taxa (Table 4).

Table 4 References used for the assessment of the geographical distribution of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

Author	Article or book title	Journal or publisher	Publication year
Abdullah and Al-Dosari	Vegetation of the State of Kuwait	IUCN and Environment Public Authority of Kuwait	2022
Ali and Jafri	Flora of Libya. Volumes 1-144	University of Tripoli	1976
Almasri, Hmidan, Shater, et al.	Syria country report on the identification of important plant areas (IPAs) in Syria (Rapid assessment)	National Coordinating Organization Syrian Society for Conservation of Wild Life	2010
Al-Sodany, El-Khalafy, Ahmed, et al.	Plant communities associated with Egyptian endemic flora	Egyptian Journal of Botany	2024
Boulos	Flora of Egypt. Volumes 1-4	Al-Hadara Publishing	1999-2005
Chaudhary	Flora of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Volumes 1-3	Ministry of Agriculture and Water of Saudi Arabia	1999-2001
El-Gadi	Flora of Libya. Volumes 145-147	University of Tripoli	1986
El-Hadidi	List of Threatened Plants in the Flora of Egypt	Kew	1979
El-Hadidi	Flora Aegyptiaca	Palm Press	2003
Floc'h, Boulos, and Véla	Synonymous Catalog with Commentary of the Flora of Tunisi	Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Tunisia	2010
Ghazanfar	Status of the flora and plant conservation in the Sultanate of Oman	Biological Conservation	1998
Kilian, Hein, and Hubaishan	New and noteworthy records for the flora of Yemen, chiefly of Hadhramout and Al-Mahra	Willdenowia	2002
Meddour, Sahar, and Médail	Checklist of the native tree flora of Algeria: diversity, distribution, and conservation	Plant Ecology and Evolution	2021
Norton, Böer, Allan, et al.	An Illustrated Checklist of the Flora of Qatar	UNESCO	2009
Täckholm	Students' Flora of Egypt	Cairo University Press	1974
Taifour	Jordan Plant Red List Volume II	Royal Botanic Garden of Jordan	2017
Taifour and El-Oqlah	Jordan Plant Red List Volume I	Royal Botanic Garden of Jordan	2016
Taleb and Fennane	Vascular Plant Communities of Morocco: Phytosociology, Ecology and Geography, Geobotany studies	Springer International Publishing	2019
Yaseen, Ahmad, Sultana, et al.	Ethnobotany of medicinal plants in the Thar Desert (Sindh) of Pakistan	Journal of Ethnopharmacology	2015
Zohary	Flora Palaestina Part I	The Israel Academy of Science and Humanities	1968
Zohary	Flora Palaestina Part II	The Israel Academy of Science and Humanities	1987

2.3 Multivariate analysis

The two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) was used to classify species and countries of occurrence (Hill, 1979). The detrended correspondence analysis (DECORANA) was used for the ordination of countries and species (Hill and Gauch, 1980). We classified the groups of countries using TWINSPAN according to the common species among each group of countries. And we named each group according to its first dominant species. The Community Analysis Package (IRC house, Hampshire, UK) was used for the TWINSPAN and DECORANA analysis (Seaby and Henderson, 2007).

3 Results

3.1 Verification of the list

The prepared prelist of endemic plants of the Saharo-Arabian region in Egypt included 429 taxa. The present study authorized 126 taxa (29.4% of the total 429 taxa) as surely Saharo-Arabian endemics in Egypt (Table S1). The number of the excluded taxa (surely non-Saharo-Arabian endemics) in this study was 209 taxa (48.7%). Three taxa were recognized as the Saharo-Arabian endemics only by the present study, 104 taxa (82.5% of the total Saharo-Arabian endemics) were recognized as the Saharo-Arabian endemics by this study and one previous study—Boulos (1999-2005), 18 taxa (14.3%) were recognized as the Saharo-Arabian endemics by the present study and two previous studies—Boulos (1999-2005) and Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017), only one taxon (0.79%) was recorded as the Saharo-Arabian endemic plant by the present study and three previous studies—Bornkamm and Kehl (1990), Boulos (1999-2005), and Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017). On the other hand, 28 taxa were excluded by the present study only, 122 taxa were excluded by the present study and one previous study (of which 115 taxa were excluded as well as Boulos (1999-2005), while 7 taxa were excluded as well as Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017)), 59 taxa were excluded by the present study and two previous studies (of which 15 taxa were excluded as well as Boulos (1999-2005) and Abd El-Ghani et al. (2017), while 44 taxa were excluded as well as Bornkamm and Kehl (1990) and Boulos (1999-2005)). Besides, 94 taxa (21.9%) were primarily found in the Saharo-Arabian region and extend to nearby regions (i.e., extended species).

The present study verified 126 endemic taxa of the Saharo-Arabian region in Egypt (109 species, 17 subspecies), belonging to 87 genera and 37 families. The major taxonomic divisions revealed that the eudicots had the most diversity including 33 families, 82 genera, 103 species, and 14 subspecies, the monocots included 3 families, 4 genera, 6 species, and 2 subspecies, and the gymonsperm included 1 family (Ephedraceae). The most representative family was Asteraceae (17 species; 13.5%), followed by Lamiaceae (13 species; 10.3%), and Caryophyllaceae and Fabaceae (12 species, respectively; 9.5%) (Table 5).

Table 5 Taxonomic diversity of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

	Family	Number of genus	Number of species	Number of subspecies
Gymnospermae	Ephedraceae	1	0	1
Monocotyledon	Amaryllidaceae	1	3	0
	Asparagaceae	2	2	2
	Poaceae	1	1	0
Dicotyledon	Amaranthaceae	2	1	2
	Anacardiaceae	1	0	1
	Apiaceae	4	4	0
	Apocynaceae	2	2	0
	Asphodelaceae	1	1	0
	Asteraceae	14	17	0
	Boraginaceae	2	2	0
	Brassicaceae	5	4	1
	Campanulaceae	1	1	0
	Caprifoliaceae	1	2	0
	Caryophyllaceae	6	12	4
	Cistaceae	1	3	0
	Colchicaceae	1	1	0
	Convolvulaceae	1	2	0
	Euphorbiaceae	1	1	0
	Fabaceae	6	12	1
	Gentianaceae	1	1	0
	Hypericaceae	1	1	0
	Lamiaceae	10	13	1
	Molluginaceae	1	1	0
	Plantaginaceae	3	2	1
	Polygalaceae	1	0	2
	Polygonaceae	2	1	1
	Primulaceae	1	1	0
	Resedaceae	1	2	0
	Rhamnaceae	1	1	0
	Rosaceae	2	2	0
	Rubiaceae	2	2	0
	Rutaceae	1	1	0
	Scrophulariaceae	2	4	0
	Solanaceae	1	1	0
	Tamariaceae	1	1	0
	Zygophyllaceae	2	4	0
Total		87	109	17

3.2 Geographical distribution

3.2.1 National geographic distribution

According to Täckholm (1974), he divided Egypt (except the Mediterranean coast and Red Sea coast) into nine phytogeographic regions. The South Sinai (south of the Sinai Peninsula) was the most rich region, comprising 83 taxa (65.9%) of the total endemic species (e.g., Reseda stenostachya Boiss., Convolvulus spicatus Peter ex Hallier f., and Phagnalon sinaicum Bornm. & Kneuck.), followed by the Isthemic Desert (the middle of Sinai) (53 taxa; 42.1%) (e.g., Pterocephalus arabicus Boiss. Bellevalia zoharyi Feinbrun, and Allium rothii Zucc.), the Arabian Desert (located in the eastern Nile River) (40 taxa; 31.7%) (e.g., Centaurea scoparia Sieb. ex Spreng., Echinops glaberrimus DC., and Launaea spinosa (Forssk.) Sch. Bip. ex Kuntze), the Oases (8 taxa; 6.3%), the Red Sea and Nile Delta (5 taxa; 4.0%), the Nile Valley (4 taxa; 3.2%), the Libyan Desert (3 taxa; 2.4%), and the Nile Faiyum (1 taxon; 0.8%) (Fig. 1).

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Fig. 1 Quantitative distribution of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

3.2.2 Global geographical distribution

The recorded 126 species in this study are endemics to the Saharo-Arabian region and located in Egypt. The SS1 subzone had all the 126 Saharo-Arabian endemic taxa (100.0%), the SS2 subzone had 79 taxa (62.7%), and the SS3 subzone distributed 14 taxa (11.1%) (Table S2). In this study, the Saharo-Arabian region included 21 countries (6 countries in Africa and 15 countries in Asia, excluding Western Sahara due to lack of data). The highest number of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt was recorded in Palestine (79 taxa; 62.7%), followed by Jordan (72 taxa; 57.1%), Saudi Arabia (67 taxa; 53.2%), Iraq (19 taxa; 15.1%), and Iran (14 taxa; 11.1%); while the lowest number of taxa was recorded in Mauritania and India (2 taxa and 1.6% for each other) (Fig. 2).

Table S2 Distribution of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in the Saharo-Arabian countries

Species	Country																						Disrtibution area
Species	Eg	SA	Ku	Ba	Qa	UAE	Ye	Om	Irq	Irn	Pak	Af	Jo	Pal	Sy	Li	Tu	Al	Mo	Ma	In	Total	Disrtibution area
Amaranthaceae
Agathophora alopecuroides var. alopecuroides (Delile) Fenzl ex Bunge	√	√	√		√				√	√	√		√	√	√	√	√	√	√			14	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Agathophora alopecuroides var. papillosa (Maire) Boulos	√	√	√		√				√	√	√		√	√	√	√	√	√	√			14	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Haloxylon negevensis (Iijin & Zohary) Boulos	√													√								2	SS1 and SS2
Amaryllidaceae
Allium decaisnei C.Presl	√													√								2	SS1 and SS2
Allium rothii Zucc.	√												√	√								3	SS1 and SS2
Allium sinaiticum Boiss.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Anacardiaceae
Pistacia khinjuk Stocks	√	√																				2	SS1 and SS2
Apiaceae
Daucus sahariensis Murb.	√															√	√	√	√			5	SS1
Ducrosia ismaelis Asch.	√	√																				2	SS1 and SS2
Pimpinella schweinfurthii Asch.	√	√				√		√														4	SS1 and SS2
Pycnocycla tomentosa Decne.	√	√												√								3	SS1 and SS2
Apocynaceae
Gomphocarpus sinaicus (Boiss.)	√	√					√						√	√								5	SS1 and SS2
Rhazya greissii Tackh. & Boulos	√																					1	SS1
Species	Country																						Disrtibution area
Species	Eg	SA	Ku	Ba	Qa	UAE	Ye	Om	Irq	Irn	Pak	Af	Jo	Pal	Sy	Li	Tu	Al	Mo	Ma	In	Total	Disrtibution area
Asparagaceae
Bellevalia desertorum Eig & Feinbrun	√												√	√								3	SS1 and SS2
Bellevalia flexuosa var. galalensis Tackh. & Drar	√																					1	SS1
Bellevalia zoharyi Feinbrun	√												√	√								3	SS1 and SS2
Muscari longipes subsp. negevense (Feinbrun & Danin)	√												√	√								3	SS1and SS2
Asphodelaceae
Asphodelus refractus Boiss.	√	√											√	√		√	√	√	√	√		9	SS1 and SS2
Asteraceae
Anthemis scrobicularis Yavin	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Anvillea garcinii (Burm.f.) DC.	√	√	√			√	√		√	√			√	√		√		√	√	√		13	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Atractylis boulosii Tackh.	√													√								2	SS1 and SS2
Atractylis mernephthae Asch. & Schweinf. & Letourn.	√	√							√				√	√				√	√			7	SS1 and SS2
Centaurea scoparia Sieber ex Spreng	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Centaurea sinaica DC.	√	√	√		√	√		√	√				√	√	√							10	SS1 and SS2
Chiliadenus montanus (Vahl) Brullo	√	√									1		√	√								5	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Crepis nigricans Viv.	√															√	√	√				4	SS1
Echinops glaberrimus DC.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Species	Country																						Disrtibution area
Species	Eg	SA	Ku	Ba	Qa	UAE	Ye	Om	Irq	Irn	Pak	Af	Jo	Pal	Sy	Li	Tu	Al	Mo	Ma	In	Total	Disrtibution area
Iphiona mucronata (Forssk.) Asch. & Schweinf.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Launaea spinosa (Forssk.) Sch. Bip. Ex Kuntze	√	√					√	√					√	√								6	SS1 and SS2
Phagnalon sinaicum Bornm. & Kneuck.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Picris sulphurea Delile	√	√																				2	SS1 and SS2
Scorzonera drarii Tackh.	√																					1	SS1
Scorzonera schweinfurthii Boiss.	√	√							√				√	√								5	SS1 and SS2
Senecio belbeysius Delile	√																					1	SS1
Tanacetum sinaicum (Fresen.) Delile ex K. Bremer & Humphries	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Boraginaceae
Arnebia tinctoria (Forssk.)	√	√	√						√				√	√		√						7	SS1 and SS2
Podonosma galalensis Schweinf. ex Boiss.	√												√	√								3	SS1 and SS2
Brassicaceae
Crucihimalaya kneuckeri (Bornm.) Al-Shehbaz, O'Kane & R. A. Price	√	√																				2	SS1 and SS2
Eremobium aegyptiacum var. lineare (Delile) Zohary	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Matthiola arabica Boiss.	√	√	√										√	√								5	SS1 and SS2
Pseuderucaria teretifolia (Desf.) O. E. Schulz	√															√	√	√	√			5	SS1
Schimpera arabica Hochst. & Steud.	√	√	√			√			√	√			√	√	√							9	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Species	Country																						Disrtibution area
Species	Eg	SA	Ku	Ba	Qa	UAE	Ye	Om	Irq	Irn	Pak	Af	Jo	Pal	Sy	Li	Tu	Al	Mo	Ma	In	Total	Disrtibution area
Campanulaceae
Campanula dulcis Decne.	√	√					√						√									4	SS1 and SS2
Caprifoliaceae
Pterocephalus arabicus Boiss.	√												√									2	SS1 and SS2
Pterocephalus sanctus Decne.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Caryophyllaceae
Bufonia multiceps Decne.	√																					1	SS1
Dianthus guessfeldtianus Muschl.	√																					1	SS1
Dianthus monadelphus subsp. judaicus (Boiss.) Greuter & Burdet	√	√							√				√	√								5	SS1 and SS2
Dianthus sinaicus Boiss.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Eremogone sinaica (Boiss.) Dillenb. & Kadereit	√													√								2	SS1 and SS2
Paronychia sinaica Fresen.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Petrorhagia arabica (Boiss.) P.W. Ball & Heywood	√												√	√								3	SS1 and SS2
Silene arabica Boiss.	√	√	√		√	√	√		√	√		√	√	√								11	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Silene hussonii Boiss.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Silene leucophylla Boiss.	√																					1	SS1
Silene linearis Decne.	√	√				√			√				√	√								6	SS1 and SS2
Silene odontopetala var. congesta Boiss.	√									√												2	SS1 and SS3
Silene oreosinaica Chowdhuri	√																					1	SS1
Species	Country																						Disrtibution area
Species	Eg	SA	Ku	Ba	Qa	UAE	Ye	Om	Irq	Irn	Pak	Af	Jo	Pal	Sy	Li	Tu	Al	Mo	Ma	In	Total	Disrtibution area
Silene schimperiana Boiss.	√																					1	SS1
Silene villosa var. graveolens Sickenb.	√																					1	SS1
Silene vivianii subsp. viscida (Boiss.) Boulos	√								√	√												3	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Cistaceae
Helianthemum sancti-antoni Schweinf. ex Boiss.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Helianthemum schweinfurthii Grosser	√																					1	SS1
Helianthemum ventosum Boiss.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Colchicaceae
Colchicum guessfeldtianum Asch. & Schweinf.	√	√																				2	SS1 and SS2
Convolvulaceae
Convolvulus schimperi Boiss.	√												√									2	SS1 and SS2
Convolvulus spicatus Peter ex Hallier f.	√	√									√		√	√								5	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Ephedraceae
Ephedra pachyclada subsp. sinaica (Riedl) Freitag & Maier-St	√	√					√						√	√								5	SS1 and SS2
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbia obovata Decne.	√									√					√						√	4	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Fabaceae
Argyrolobium saharae Pomel	√																	√	√			3	SS1
Species	Country																						Disrtibution area
Species	Eg	SA	Ku	Ba	Qa	UAE	Ye	Om	Irq	Irn	Pak	Af	Jo	Pal	Sy	Li	Tu	Al	Mo	Ma	In	Total	Disrtibution area
Astragalus amalecitanus Boiss.	√													√								2	SS1 and SS2
Astragalus dactylocarpus subsp. acinaciferus (Boiss.) E. Ott	√	√	√						√	√		√	√	√								8	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Astragalus fresenii Decne	√																					1	SS1
Astragalus intercedens Sam. ex Rech.f.	√	√											√	√		√						5	SS1 and SS2
Astragalus sanctus Boiss.	√												√	√	√							4	SS1 and SS2
Astragalus schimperi Boiss.	√	√	√	√	√	√		√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√						15	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Astragalus sparsus Decne	√	√					√						√	√								5	SS1 and SS2
Lotus lanuginosus Vent.	√	√							√				√	√	√							6	SS1 and SS2
Melilotus serratifolius Tackh. & Boulos	√																					1	SS1
Tephrosia kassasii Boulos	√																					1	SS1
Trigonella media Delile ex Urb.	√																					1	SS1
Trigonella schlumbergeri Boiss.	√																					1
Gentianaceae
Centaurium malzacianum Maire	√	√																				2	SS1 and SS2
Hypericaceae
Hypericum sinaicum Hochst. ex Boiss.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Lamiaceae
Ballota kaiseri Tackh.	√																					1	SS1
Lavandula atriplicifolia Benth.	√	√					√															3	SS1 and SS2
Species	Country																						Disrtibution area
Species	Eg	SA	Ku	Ba	Qa	UAE	Ye	Om	Irq	Irn	Pak	Af	Jo	Pal	Sy	Li	Tu	Al	Mo	Ma	In	Total	Disrtibution area
Micromeria serbaliana (Danin & Hedge)	√																					1	SS1
Micromeria sinaica (Benth.) Briq.	√												√	√								3	SS1 and SS2
Nepeta septemcrenata Ehrenb. ex Benth.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Origanum isthmicum Danin	√													√								2	SS1and SS2
Origanum syriacum subsp. sinaicum (Boiss.) Greuter & Burdet	√																					1	SS1
Phlomis aurea Decne.	√												√									2	SS1 and SS2
Salvia deserti Decne.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Stachys aegyptiaca Pers.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Teucrium decaisnei C. Presl	√													√		√						3	SS1 and SS2
Teucrium leucocladum Boiss.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Thymus bovei Benth.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Thymus decussatus Benth.	√	√												√								3	SS1 and SS2
Molluginaceae
Glinus runkewitzii Tackh. & Boulos	√																					1	SS1
Plantaginaceae
Anarrhinum forskaohlii subsp. pubescens D.A.Sutton	√																					1	SS1
Plantago sinaica (Barneoud) Decne.	√												√	√								3	SS1 and SS2
Veronica kaiseri Tackh.	√												√									2	SS1 and SS2
Species	Country																						Disrtibution area
Species	Eg	SA	Ku	Ba	Qa	UAE	Ye	Om	Irq	Irn	Pak	Af	Jo	Pal	Sy	Li	Tu	Al	Mo	Ma	In	Total	Disrtibution area
Poaceae
Stipagrostis drarii (Tackh.) De Winter	√	√	√				√	√	√				√	√								8	SS1 and SS2
Polygalaceae
Polygala sinaica var. glabrescens (Zohary) Boulos	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Polygala sinaica var. sinaica Botsch.	√																					1	SS1
Polygonaceae
Atraphaxis spinosa var. sinaica (Jaub. & Spach) Boiss.	√	√												√								3	SS1 and SS2
Persicaria obtusifolia (Täckh. & Boulos) Greuter & Burdet	√																					1	SS1
Primulaceae
Evotrochis involucrata Raf.	√																					1	SS1
Resedaceae
Reseda muricata C. Presl	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√			√	√								12	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Reseda stenostachya Boiss.	√												√	√								3	SS1 and SS2
Rhamnaceae
Rhamnus disperma Ehrenb. ex Boiss.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Rosaceae
Cotoneaster orbicularis Schltdl.	√	√						√				√										4	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Rosa arabica (Crép. ex Boiss.) Déségl.	√																					1	SS1
Species	Country																						Disrtibution area
Species	Eg	SA	Ku	Ba	Qa	UAE	Ye	Om	Irq	Irn	Pak	Af	Jo	Pal	Sy	Li	Tu	Al	Mo	Ma	In	Total	Disrtibution area
Rubiaceae
Crucianella ciliata Lam.	√	√							√	√			√	√								6	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Galium sinaicum (Delile ex Decne) Boiss.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Rutaceae
Haplophyllum poorei C. C. Towns.	√												√	√								3	SS1 and SS2
Scrophulariaceae
Scrophularia deserti Delile	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√						√	16	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Verbascum decaisneanum Kuntze	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Verbascum fruticulosum Post & Autran	√												√	√								3	SS1and SS2
Verbascum schimperianum Boiss.	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Solanaceae
Hyoscyamus boveanus (Dunal) Asch. & Schweinf.	√																					1	SS1
Tamaricaceae
Reaumuria negevensis Zohary & Danin	√													√								2	SS1and SS2
Zygophyllaceae
Tribulus kaiseri Hosni	√	√								√												3	SS1, SS2, and SS3
Zygophyllum dumosum Boiss.	√												√	√								3	SS1 and SS2
Zygophyllum molle (Delile) Christenh. & Byng	√	√											√	√								4	SS1 and SS2
Species	Country																						Disrtibution area
Species	Eg	SA	Ku	Ba	Qa	UAE	Ye	Om	Irq	Irn	Pak	Af	Jo	Pal	Sy	Li	Tu	Al	Mo	Ma	In	Total	Disrtibution area
Zygophyllum scabrum (Forssk.) Christenh. & Byng	√													√		√	√	√	√			6	SS1 and SS2
Total	126	67	13	3	7	9	11	8	19	14	6	5	72	79	9	12	7	10	9	2	2	490

Note: Eg, Egypt; SA, Saudi Arabia; Ku, Kuwait; Ba, Bahrain; Qa, Qatar; UAE, the United Arab Emirates; Ye, Yemen; Om, Oman; Irq, Iraq; Irn, Iran; Pak, Pakistan; Af, Afghanistan; Jo, Jordan; Pal, Palestine; Sy, Syria; Li, Libya; Tu, Tunisia; Al, Algeria; Mo, Morroco; Ma, Mauritania; In, India; SS1, Sahara regional subzone; SS2, Saharo-Arabian subzone; SS3, Nubo-Sindian subzone. Note that the Saharo-Arabian floristic region zoning is based on the White and Léonard (1991), of which SS1 subzone includes Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, SS2 subzone includes Palestine, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, and southern Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, and SS3 subzone includes southern Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan and northern India.

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Fig. 2 Quantitative distribution of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in each Saharo-Arabian country. Note that the Western Sahara is not included in the research scope of this paper due to lack of data.

3.3 Endemic species in Egypt

Remarkably, 25 taxa (19.8%) of the recorded species in this study were exclusive to Egypt (Table 6), and 18 taxa (14.3%) were near endemic (in Egypt and another country). To be specific, 7 taxa were recorded in Egypt and Palestine (Haloxylon negevensis (Iljin & Zohary) L. Boulos, Allium decaisnei C. Presl, Atractylis boulosii Täckh., Eremogone sinaica (Boiss.) Dillenb. & Kadereit, Astragalus amalecitanus Boiss., Origanum isthmicum Danin, and Reaumuria negevensis Zohary & Danin), 6 species in Egypt and Saudi Arabia (Pistacia khinjuk Stocks, Ducrosia ismaelis Asch., Picris sulphurea Delile, Crucihimalaya kneuckeri (Bornm.) Al-Shehbaz, O'Kane & R. A. Price, Colchicum guessfeldtianum Asch. & Schweinf., and Centaurium malzacianum Maire), 4 species in Egypt and Jordan (Pterocephalus arabicus Boiss., Convolvulus schimperi Engl., Phlomis aurea Decne., and Veronica kaiseri Täckh.), and 1 species in Egypt and Iran (Silene odontopetala var. congesta Boiss.). Whereas Scrophularia deserti Delile and Astragalus schimperi Boiss. Were abundantly distributed in the countries of the Saharo-Arabian region.

Table 6 List of the exclusive Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

No.	Endemic species	Family
1	Anarrhinum forskaohlii subsp. pubescens D. A. Sutton	Plantaginaceae
2	Astragalus fresenii Decne	Fabaceae
3	Ballota kaiseri Tackh.	Lamiaceae
4	Bellevalia flexuosa var. galalensis Tackh. & Drar	Asparagaceae
5	Bufonia multiceps Decne	Caryophyllaceae
6	Dianthus guessfeldtianus Muschl.	Caryophyllaceae
7	Glinus runkewitzii Tackh. & Boulos	Molluginaceae
8	Helianthemum schweinfurthii Grosser	Cistaceae
9	Hyoscyamus boveanus (Dunal) Asch. & Schweinf	Solanaceae
10	Melilotus serratifolius Tackh. & Boulos	Fabaceae
11	Micromeria serbaliana Danin & Hedge	Lamiaceae
12	Origanum syriacum subsp. sinaicum (Boiss.) Greuter & Burde	Lamiaceae
13	Persicaria obtusifolia (Täckh. & Boulos) Greuter & Burdet	Polygonaceae
14	Polygala sinaica Botsch. var. sinaica	Polygalaceae
15	Primula boveana Decne. ex Duby	Primulaceae
16	Rhazya greissii Tackh. & Boulos	Apocynaceae
17	Rosa arabica (Crép. ex Boiss.) Déségl.	Rosaceae
18	Scorzonera drarii Tackh.	Asteraceae
19	Senecio belbeysius Delile	Asteraceae
20	Silene leucophylla Boiss.	Caryophyllaceae
21	Silene oreosinaica Chowdhuri	Caryophyllaceae
22	Silene schimperiana Boiss.	Caryophyllaceae
23	Silene villosa var. graveolens Sickenb.	Caryophyllaceae
24	Tephrosia kassasii Boulos	Fabaceae
25	Trigonella media Delile ex Urb.	Fabaceae

3.4 Clustering analysis

Seven groups were recognized at the fourth level of classification as a result of the application of TWINSPAN to the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt (Fig. 3; Table 7). Figure 4 shows the results of DECORANA analysis. We determined the names of the groups according to the first dominant species that had the highest presence percentage in each group, as follows:

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Fig. 3 Dendrogram showing the most representative seven groups produced after using TWINSPAN classification technique at the fourth level. I, Asphodelus refractus group; II, Agathophora alopecuroides var. papillosa group; III, Anvillea garcinii group; IV, Reseda muricata group; V, Agathophora alopecuroides var. alopecuroides; VI, Scrophularia deserti group; VII, Astragalus schimperi group.

Table 7 Vegetation groups of the 126 Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

Vegetation group	Number of species	Distribution country	Percentage of African country (%)	Percentage of Asian country (%)	Dominant species
I Asphodelus refractus group	10	Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and Tunisia	100.0	0.0	Asphodelus refractus Boiss., Agathophora alopecuroides (Delile) Fenzl ex Bunge, Anvillea garcinii (Burm. f.) DC., Pseuderucaria teretifolia (Desf.) O. E. Schulz, and Zygophyllum scabrum (Forssk.) Christenh. & Byng.
II Agathophora alopecuroides var. papillosa group	12	Libya	100.0	0.0	Agathophora alopecuroides var. papillosa (Maire) Boulos, Daucus sahariensis Murb., and Anvillea garcinii (Burm. f.) DC.
III Anvillea garcinii group	11	Yemen	0.0	100.0	Anvillea garcinii (Burm. f.) DC., Gomphocarpus sinaicus Boiss., and Launaea spinosa (Forssk.) Sch. Bip. ex Kuntze.
IV Reseda muricata group	126	Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia	25.0	75.0	Reseda muricata C.Presl, Allium sinaiticum Boiss., Agathophora alopecuroides (Delile) Fenzl ex Bunge, Gomphocarpus sinaicus Boiss., and Anthemis scrobicularis Yavin.
V Agathophora alopecuroides var. alopecuroides group	23	Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar	0.0	100.0	Agathophora alopecuroides var. alopecuroides, Silene arabica F.N.Williams, Astragalus schimperi Boiss., and Reseda muricata C. Presl
VI Scrophularia desert group	11	India, Pakistan, and Syria	0.0	100.0	Scrophularia deserti Delile, Astragalus schimperi Boiss., Euphorbia obovata Decne., and Agathophora alopecuroides (Delile) Fenzl ex Bunge
VII Astragalus schimperi group	13	Afghanistan, Bahrain, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates	0.0	100.0	Astragalus schimperi Boiss, Reseda muricata C. Presl, Scrophularia deserti Delile, Cotoneaster orbicularis Schltdl., and Silene arabica F. N. Williams

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Fig. 4 Detrended correspondence analysis (DECORANA) ordination plot. SA, Saudi Arabia; UAE, the United Arab Emirates.

I Asphodelus refractus group. This group involved Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania. The most common species among these countries were Asphodelus refractus Boiss., Agathophora alopecuroides (Delile) Fenzl ex Bunge, Anvillea garcinii (Burm.f.) DC., Pseuderucaria teretifolia (Desf.) O.E.Schulz, and Zygophyllum scabrum (Forssk.) Christenh. & Byng.

II Agathophora alopecuroides var. papillosa group. This group included only Libya. The dominant species in Libya include Agathophora alopecuroides var. papillosa (Maire) Boulos, Daucus sahariensis Murb., and Anvillea garcinii (Burm. f.) DC.

III Anvillea garcinii group. This group included only Yemen. The dominant species in Yemen included Anvillea garcinii (Burm. f.) DC., Gomphocarpus sinaicus Boiss., and Launaea spinosa (Forssk.) Sch. Bip. ex Kuntze.

IV Reseda muricata group. This group involved Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, and Jordan. The most common species among these countries were Reseda muricata C. Presl, Allium sinaiticum Boiss., Agathophora alopecuroides (Delile) Fenzl ex Bunge, Gomphocarpus sinaicus Boiss., and Anthemis scrobicularis Yavin.

V Agathophora alopecuroides var. alopecuroides group. This group included Iran, Iraq, Qatar, and Kuwait. The most common species among these countries were Agathophora alopecuroides var. alopecuroides, Silene arabica F. N. Williams, Astragalus schimperi Boiss., and Reseda muricata C. Presl.

VI Scrophularia deserti group. This group involved Pakistan, India, and Syria. The most common species among these countries were Scrophularia deserti Delile, Astragalus schimperi Boiss., Euphorbia obovata Decne., and Agathophora alopecuroides (Delile) Fenzl ex Bunge.

VII Astragalus schimperi group. This group involved Afghanistan, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. The most common species among these countries were Astragalus schimperi Boiss, Reseda muricata C. Presl, Scrophularia deserti Delile, Cotoneaster orbicularis Schltdl., and Silene arabica F. N. Williams.

4 Discussion

The results of the current study support the idea that the Saharo-Arabian region is characterized by hot deserts, semi-deserts, and savanna. The Saharo-Arabian countries include Morocco, Mauritania, Western Sahara (not included in this study), Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, southern Jordon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, as well as northern India.

A large portion of the flora of the Saharo-Arabian region is shared with the nearby Mediterranean, Irano-Turanian, and Sudano-Zambezian regions of the Paleotropical Kingdom and the Holarctic Kingdom (White and Léonard, 1991). The boundary of the Saharo-Arabian region in the Nile Delta starts after an average distance of 15-25 km in north-south direction from the coast (Zahran and Willis, 2009). This distance includes a transition zone between the Mediterranean and the Saharo-Arabian floristic region that is called Mediterranean-Sahara regional transition zone (El Hadidi, 2003). This transition zone extends for an average width ranging 5-10 km in south direction from the coast. The boundary of the Saharo-Arabian region in the Western Desert starts after an average distance of 45-50 km in north-south direction from the coast in which the Mediterranean-Sahara regional transition zone extends for an average width ranging 5-10 km in south direction from the coast (El Hadidi, 2003). The Sinai Peninsula totally lies within the Saharo-Arabian floristic region except the Mediterranean coastal strip of North Sinai (about 13.0% of Sinai Peninsula) (Zahran et al., 1985; White and Léonard, 1991; Heneidak, 2008). Danin and Plitmann (1987) stated that the highlands of the South Sinai are located in the Irano-Turanian chorotype, while the lowlands of South Sinai are located in the Sudano-Zambezian chorotype. Also, Gebel Elba Mountains that are excluded from the Saharo-Arabian floristic region, are located in the Sudano-Zambezian chorotype (Eig, 1931; White and Léonard, 1991).

Regarding the national distribution of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt, Sinai (especially South Sinai) is the richest region, comprising 83 taxa (65.9%) of the total endemic species. Numerous microhabitats can be found in Sinai Peninsula due to the variety of geology and landforms. Each of them has distinct climatic conditions and a flora that is rich in endemic and medicinal plants (Khedr, 2021). The massive mountains in Sinai Peninsula, which limit the dispersion of seeds over long distances, are likely responsible for the region's abundance of endemic species. In particular, the Saint Katherine Protectorate (SKP) in South Sinai is the most important region for endemism in Egypt (Zohary, 1973). Moreover, in Sinai Peninsula, the wadis serve as drainage channels for gathering rainwater from the surroundings and facilitating the growth of plants. Consequently, these wadis are floristically diverse and provide habitat for many wild species (Khedr, 2021). The highest number of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt also distributes in other Saharo-Arabian countries, especially Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and Kuwait, and most of them are distributed in Sinai Peninsula. This can be explained by the separation of the Arabian Peninsula and Sinai subplate away from the larger African landmass as a product of a geological "rifting" process. The physical separation caused many species to become physically separated, and several little springs appeared in the limestone and sandstone hills of western Sinai and southwestern Jordan, respectively (Hegazy and Doust, 2016). Moreover, the microhabitats of the deserts of Sinai Peninsula, Palestine, and Jordan support the rarest plant species (Lavergne, 2003).

Multivariate analysis indicated seven vegetation groups, two of them (groups I and II) distributed in the African countries, while the other five (groups III-VII) mainly distributed the Asian countries. This indicates that the topography governs the vegetation distribution. Friis et al. (2005) showed how topography affected plant diversity and distribution in the Horn of Africa, which in turn increased the number of species and endemism by facilitating evolutionary processes and avoiding extinction. According to Irl et al. (2015) and Méndez-Toribio et al. (2016), complex topography affects the richness, speciation process, diversity, and geographical distribution pattern of plant species, however, its influence is the greatest when determining plant endemic richness patterns. Also, due to enhanced habitat diversity and niche space availability, the varied topography may favor the creation of microrefugia (Badgley et al., 2017; Graae et al., 2018), which may have improved the chances of species survival during periods of shifts in the environment (Dobrowski, 2011; Keppel et al., 2012). In addition, topography promotes isolation, which acts as a dispersal restriction between populations (Janzen, 1967), limiting the flow of genes through isolation, promoting divergence, and creating the conditions necessary for allopatry (Coyne and Orr, 2004). In addition, numerous factors, such as climate, geographic barriers, human influences, biotic interactions, and stochastic occurrences, also have an impact on the distribution of endemic organisms (Morrone, 2018). Extreme weather events, such as drought and flooding, extremely high and low temperatures, wind events, and even changes in salinity or pH, are on the rise as a result of climate change. Therefore, it is likely that most organisms are going to face environmental conditions that are outside of their normal historical tolerance range (Cheng et al., 2017).

Some taxa found in the Saharo-Arabian floristic region extend to neighboring areas in other floristic regions because of some factors such as wind, human activities, and climate change. These taxa were excluded from endemism in the present study because of their extension to adjacent regions. For example, Allium crameri Asch. & Boiss. and Allium papillare Boiss that extend to the Mediterranean coast of Rafah (El-Garf, 2000) and Bardawil Lake (El-Bana, 2009; Nada et al., 2013); and Anthemis melampodina subsp. deserti (Boiss.) Eig, Anthemis zoharyana Eig, Asphodelus viscidulus Boiss., Astragalus camelorum Barbey, Astragalus palaestinus Eig, Bassia arabica (Boiss.) Maire & Weiller, Bellevalia eigii Feinbrun, Carduus getulus Pomel, Caroxylon tetrandrum (Forssk.) Akhani & Roalson, Carthamus eriocephalus (Boiss.) Greuter, Colchicum ritchii R. Br., Ferula sinaica Boiss., and Glaucium arabicum extend to the Mediterranean region including different adjacent countries (Täckholm, 1974; Squires and Ayoub, 1994; Boulos, 1999-2005; Turk and El Shayeb, 2005; Turki et al., 2006; Galal and Fawzy, 2007; El-Zanaty et al., 2010; Danin and Fragman-Sapir, 2016; Fakhry and Al-Anazi, 2017; Osman and Abdein, 2019; Mahklouf, 2020). In addition, some species extend to the Irano-Turanian region such as Caroxylon villosum (Schult.) Akhani & Roalson (Mosallam, 2007), Onopordum ambiguum Fresen. (Rabei and Elgamal, 2021), Verbascum eremobium Murb. and Blepharis attenuata Napper (Danin and Fragman-Sapir, 2016), Astragalus bombycinus Boiss. (Asri, 2004; Osman et al., 2014), and Stipagrostis multinerva H. Scholz (GBIF, 2023). Moreover, some species extend to the Sudano-Zambezian region like Ziziphus nummularia (Burm. f.) Wight & Arn. (Danin and Fragman-Sapir, 2016), Cometes surattensis Burm. f. (Al-Sherif et al., 2013), and Deverra triradiata Hochst. ex Boiss. (Abd El-Ghani et al., 2011).

The distribution of species, genetic diversity, and effective population size can all be impacted by human activity (Zhao et al., 2018, 2019). In many parts of the world, human activities have overtaken climate change in recent centuries as the primary factor influencing species distributions (Li et al., 2015). Anthropogenic disturbances such as livestock grazing and logging have an impact in changing the richness, diversity, distribution pattern, and vegetation structure in an ecosystem. The magnitude of their influence depends on the severity of disturbance (Hogan et al., 2016). Changes in climatic conditions are impacting the distribution and occurrence of natural resources in deserts. Both the timing and the routes of species migrations are predicted to change as a result of altered food distribution and the spatiotemporal unpredictability of water availability, which could adversely affect the dynamics of migratory ungulate populations (Duncan et al., 2012). It is widely acknowledged that human activities play a significant role in dryland climate change. Salinization, desertification, loss of vegetative cover, biodiversity loss, and other forms of environmental degradation are all caused in part by human activities. With rapid economic development, the modern lifestyle has become increasingly reliant on the use of fossil fuels (Barnett and O'Neill, 2010). In addition, the spatial patterns of energy consumption have strongly influenced temperature trends in recent years (Li and Zhao, 2012), especially in developing countries.

5 Conclusions

The current study is considered the pioneer in providing recent and verified checklist of the Saharo-Arabian endemic species in Egypt. A preliminary list of 429 Saharo-Arabian endemics in Egypt was compiled from three available literature. By comparing with three previous studies, this study excluded the species that were recorded in any countries or region outside the Saharo-Arabian region based on different literature, database reviews, and websites in Egypt and other countries, and finally reduced this number to 126 endemics belonging to 87 genera and 37 families. The eudicots had the highest plant diversity including 33 families, 82 genera, and 103 species, the monocots included 3 families, 4 genera, and 6 species, and there was also 1 species of gymnosperm. The most representative family was Asteraceae (17 species). Among the nine phytogeographic regions in Egypt, the South Sinai was the richest region with the Saharo-Arabian endemic species. Moreover, the SS1 subzone had all the 126 endemics, the SS2 subzone owned 79 taxa, and the SS3 subzone distributed 14 endemic plants. Seven groups were recognized at the fourth level of classification as a result of the application of TWINSPAN to the Saharo-Arabian endemics in Egypt, including Asphodelus refractus group that involved Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania; Agathophora alopecuroides var. papillosa group that included only Libya; Anvillea garcinii group that included only Yemen; Reseda muricata group that involved Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, and Jordan; Agathophora alopecuroides var. alopecuroides group that included Iran, Iraq, Qatar, and Kuwait; Scrophularia deserti group that involved Pakistan, India, and Syria; and Astragalus schimperi group that involved Afghanistan, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. The majority of the endemic plants identified in this study are very rare, emphasizing the need for comprehensive planning and conservation efforts, both in situ and ex situ.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and editors for their insightful comments and suggestions in improving this manuscript.

Author contributions

Conceptualization and design: Asmaa S ABO HATAB, Kamal H SHALTOUT, Yassin M AL-SODANY, Mohamed M EL-KHALAFY; Material preparation, data collection, and analysis: Asmaa S ABO HATAB, Mohamed M EL-KHALAFY; Writing - original draft preparation: Asmaa S ABO HATAB, Kamal H SHALTOUT, Yassin M AL-SODANY, Mohamed M EL-KHALAFY; Writing - review and editing: Asmaa S ABO HATAB, Kamal H SHALTOUT, Yassin M AL-SODANY, Soliman A HAROUN, Mohamed M EL-KHALAFY; Supervision: Kamal H SHALTOUT, Yassin M AL-SODANY, Soliman A HAROUN. All authors approved the manuscript.

Appendix

Table S1 Updated list of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

Table S2 Distribution of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in the Saharo-Arabian countries

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Outlines

模态框（Modal）标题

Abstract

Cite this article

1 Introduction

2 Materials and methods

2.1 Study area

2.2 Data sources and verification literature

2.2.1 Endemic species

Table S1 Updated list of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

Table 1 References of flora of Egypt used for the verification of occurrence of the Saharo-Atabian endemic plants in Egypt

Table 2 References of floras of other countries in the Saharo-Arabian region used for the verification of occurrence of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

Table 3 Global online databases utilized for the verification of occurrence of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

2.2.2 Geographical distribution

Table 4 References used for the assessment of the geographical distribution of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

2.3 Multivariate analysis

3 Results

3.1 Verification of the list

Table 5 Taxonomic diversity of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

3.2 Geographical distribution

3.2.1 National geographic distribution

Fig. 1 Quantitative distribution of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

3.2.2 Global geographical distribution

Table S2 Distribution of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in the Saharo-Arabian countries

Fig. 2 Quantitative distribution of the Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in each Saharo-Arabian country. Note that the Western Sahara is not included in the research scope of this paper due to lack of data.

3.3 Endemic species in Egypt

Table 6 List of the exclusive Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

3.4 Clustering analysis

Table 7 Vegetation groups of the 126 Saharo-Arabian endemic plants in Egypt

Fig. 4 Detrended correspondence analysis (DECORANA) ordination plot. SA, Saudi Arabia; UAE, the United Arab Emirates.

4 Discussion

5 Conclusions

Conflict of interest

Acknowledgements

Author contributions

Appendix

References