page_title: Rhanterium epapposum
hierarchical_section_title: Rhanterium epapposum
caption_attribution_description: English: Close-up of white-hairy stem and spiny leaves of Rhanterium epapposum. Taken in Qatar.
context_page_description: Rhanterium epapposum is a plant of the family Asteraceae. Native to the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar where it is known locally as Arfaj. The Arfaj plant consists of a complicated network of branches scattered with small thorny leaves and bright yellow flowers about 1.5 cm wide. The Arfaj flower is also the national flower of Kuwait. It is a bushy shrub approximately 80 cm height. The leaves are small and narrow, and in late spring it will start flowering. It is considered one of the main desert forage plants for camels and sheep.
  When cold temperature prevails the Rhanterium produces leaves quickly after rainfall. In a few months, the branches and newly formed leaves become vigorous, and the yellow flowers are produced, attracting insects and birds. In the summer, when the earth has dried out, the leaves fall and the branches become naked and lignified with living fibers. In times of stress, these alterations may be important in increasing the chance of survival, water and reserve material stored in the stems to remain alive by allowing it to have few dormant bud.
context_section_description: Rhanterium epapposum is a plant of the family Asteraceae. Native to the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar where it is known locally as Arfaj (Arabic: عرفج‎).  The Arfaj plant consists of a complicated network of branches scattered with small thorny leaves and bright yellow flowers about 1.5 cm wide.  The Arfaj flower is also the national flower of Kuwait. It is a bushy shrub approximately 80 cm height. The leaves are small and narrow, and in late spring it will start flowering (April–May). It is considered one of the main desert forage plants for camels and sheep.
  When cold temperature prevails the Rhanterium produces leaves quickly after rainfall. In a few months, the branches and newly formed leaves become vigorous, and the yellow flowers are produced, attracting insects and birds. In the summer, when the earth has dried out, the leaves fall and the branches become naked and lignified with living fibers. In times of stress, these alterations may be important in increasing the chance of survival, water and reserve material stored in the stems to remain alive by allowing it to have few dormant bud. When conditions improve, the reserves are transported into buds allowing new growth.
  Arfaj fruit is numerous; it forms in late spring and falls off the branches after maturity.  It accumulates under the shrub and remains dormant until favorable conditions for germination prevail. Each fruit contains about 6-8 seeds that are transported by wind or water.
caption: Stem and leaf close-up
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "6000", "Image ImageLength": "4000", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D5300", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2017:05:06 13:26:23", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "312", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[24, 1304/25, 0]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "E", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[51, 70273/10000, 0]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "1", "GPS GPSAltitude": "30", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[9, 3, 494/25]", "GPS GPSSatellites": "05", "GPS GPSMapDatum": "WGS-84", "GPS GPSDate": "2014:03:02", "Image GPSInfo": "1020", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1362", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4640", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "16", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Shutter Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "250", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:03:02 12:03:20", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:03:02 12:03:20", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "995723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "85", "EXIF SubSecTime": "20", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "20", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "20", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "720", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "810", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "988", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "127", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}