Samor: the Umbrella Thorn Tree

The icon of the Arabian Desert

Umbrella thorn/Samar TreeQur’anic Botanic Garden

Samor (Umbrella Thorn Trees)

The Umbrella Thorn Tree –known in Arabic as Samor, Scientific Name:Vachellia tortilis (Forssk.) Galasso & Banfi– is one of the desert trees that is mentioned almost in any reference book on arid lands.

Samor (Umbrella Thorn Trees) Habitat

Is one of the desert trees in Arabian Peninsula and common in plains and mountains.  Umbrella thorn trees are one of the most important components of the green cover in Qatar.

They grow in low, deep meadows/habitats, where soil depth can be up to more than a meter and have a diversity in the vegetative cover. 

Al-aisQur’anic Botanic Garden

Al-ais

Al-ais is an Arabic word that describes swirling trees whose roots are overlap and intertwine with each other. 

These trees have entangled stems and branches beyond identification, like the  overlapping and entanglement of jujube

Al-hadalQur’anic Botanic Garden

Al-Hadal

Al-hadal is an Arabic word that refers to any plant that is entangled with umbrella thorn tree branches which are of a different species. 

Several species of plants grow along umbrella thorns, and they often become entangled. For example, horsetail or alanda shrubs (Ephedra ciliata) grow so entangled with umbrella thorns and Arabian boxthorn (Lycium shawii) that it is difficult to distinguish them 

Al-baramQur’anic Botanic Garden

Al-baram

Al-baram (an Arabic word which means ‘many flowers’, the singular is barama) is used to describe flowers of the umbrella thorn tree in classical Arabic.  Umbrella thorn flowers can be in one cluster of several clusters. 

Umbrella thorn seed pods (ḥubla in Arabic)Qur’anic Botanic Garden

Umbrella Thorn Seed Pods

Al-ḥubla is the fruit of the umbrella thorn tree. They are green beans, small and coiled. 

It is called al-hubla (which means in Arabic ‘pregnant lady’), because they have swollen "bellies".  

Umbrella thorn/Samar TreeQur’anic Botanic Garden

All photos taken by: Ahmed El-Gharib, Assistant Researcher, Quranic Botanic Garden member of Qatar Foundation.

Credits: Story

All photos taken by: Ahmed El-Gharib, Assistant Researcher, Quranic Botanic Garden, member of Qatar Foundation.

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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