page_title: Cissus subaphylla
section_title: Distribution
hierarchical_section_title: Cissus subaphylla / Distribution
caption_attribution_description: English: Cissus subaphylla
context_page_description: Cissus subaphylla is a low shrub in the grape family Vitaceae. It is endemic to the Yemeni island of Socotra. The plant grows mainly in dry, low-lying areas on alluvial fans or on limestone slopes, and is rarely found above elevations of 300 metres, where it is replaced by C. hamaderohensis. It does not have the climbing habit of other Cissus species, and its stems are flattened and gray-green in colour, with relatively small leaves and flowers. The tangled mats of C. subaphylla stems act as a protective covering for plants regularly eaten by goats and other browsing animals; the plant is thus important in the rehabilitation of species such as Dendrosicyos, Maerua and Commiphora.
context_section_description: Cissus subaphylla is one of the dominant plant species found on the Socotra's coastal plains and low inland mountains. It grows in particular association with Salvadora persica and Croton socotranus, but is also found with Jatropha unicostata, Pulicaria stephanocarpa, Dendrosicyos socotranus, and Adenium obesum. subsp. sokotranum. About 270 of the island's 828 known plant species are endemic.
caption: 1903 illustration of a C. subaphylla seedling.
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