DESPITE its sandy deserts, Saudi Arabia has a rich flora including an amazing variety of wildflowers which are generally unknown to the public at large. A total of 2,250 species have been recorded and photographed by Sheila Collenette over a period of 26 years. Her extraordinary work was published in 1999 in a remarkable book “Wildflowers of Saudi Arabia.” It was published by the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development and as it is mainly a scientific handbook, it is not available in bookstores. The book highlights a great deal of information which nobody was aware of: 152 new species and 95 known species not previously found in the Kingdom.
Who would believe that gladioli, irises and tulips grow wild in Saudi Arabia? Tulipa biflora, a white flower exuding a strong sweet scent, is occasionally found in the North: “Tulipa biflora is a remarkable discovery because the species is found in Russia. The flowers are virtually extinct because the trees are being cut down so the rain no longer falls on the high mountains where they still survive,” explains Collenette.
Some wildflowers look very little like flowers. The light brown ‘hydnora johannis’, for example, looks like a dried up marrow. It is leafless and rootless since it grows on the roots or the stems of a host plant. Its foul smell attracts pollinating insects. The family of ‘asclepiadaceae” is very well represented in the Kingdom. The flowers of the various species, especially the ‘ceropegia’ come in unusual shapes. From the stems of the common ‘calotropis procera’, the bedouin prepared gunpowder while its stem is said to have medicinal properties.
The author admits that experience and intuition have helped her discover new species of flowers. Over the years she noticed that a number of rare species were growing in cracks in granite where they survive on the minerals released by the granite, especially pale colored or reddish granite.
February and March are the best months to see wildflowers. One should visit an area where it has rained a month after rain. Wildflowers should not, however, be picked because they are thus prevented from forming seed and new flowers for the coming year. Moreover, they give little pleasure once picked for they wilt almost immediately.
Disturbance of native flora by humans began in prehistoric times. When humans invade an area, conditions change. More roads, more farms, more houses, more animals cause the wilderness to disappear. Lately, desertification is also a reason for the increasing number of endangered species — which total 721 in the Kingdom.
Creating home wildflower gardens can help preserve and even increase the supply of native flowers. However, the most efficient way to save wild flowers from extinction in Saudi Arabia is the creation of protected areas by the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development. Protected areas are found in all the Kingdom’s key habitats: Islands, sea grass beds, mangroves, coral reefs, woodlands, wetlands, mountains and deserts.
“The protected area of Mahazat as Say’d is an outstanding success because although it is full of oryx, plants have flourished because the area is fenced,” says Collenette.
Science depends closely on its wild populations, ranging from animals and plants to microorganisms, to repair deficiencies in domesticated species so as to ensure and increase food security as well as to create new medicines. The wild flowers of Saudi Arabia have provided aesthetic and other advantages for centuries and their loss would deprive science of untapped biological reserves useful for scientific research.
