During field studies in sand dune areas and some habitats close to wetland ecosystems of the Tihama region of Jazan Province in south-western Saudi Arabia, specimens of 3 interesting species belonging to the genera Odyssea (Poaceae), Sesbania (Papilionaceae). | Y. MASRAHI, A. AL-HUQAIL, T. AL-TURKI, J. THOMAS Research Article Turk J Bot 36 (2012): 39-48 © TÜBİTAK doi: Odyssea mucronata, Sesbania sericea, and Sesamum alatum– new discoveries for the flora of Saudi Arabia Yahya MASRAHI1, Arwa AL-HUQAIL2, Turki AL-TURKI3, Jacob THOMAS4,* 1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Jazan University, PO Box 2097, Jazan - SAUDI ARABIA 2 Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Noura Bint Abdulrehman University, PO Box 9750, Riyadh 11423 - SAUDI ARABIA 3 Natural Resources and Environmental Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, PO Box 6086, Riyadh 11451 - SAUDI ARABIA 4 Herbarium (KSU), Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, PO Box 2455, Riyadh 11451 - SAUDI ARABIA Received: Accepted: Abstract: During field studies in sand dune areas and some habitats close to wetland ecosystems of the Tihama region of Jazan Province in south-western Saudi Arabia, specimens of 3 interesting species belonging to the genera Odyssea (Poaceae), Sesbania (Papilionaceae), and Sesamum (Pedaliaceae) were collected; they were identified as Odyssea mucronata (Forssk.) Stapf, Sesbania sericea (Willd.) Link., and Sesamum alatum Thonn. A review of the literature revealed that these tropical African taxa were never before recorded for the flora of Saudi Arabia. O. mucronata is represented by a relatively large isolated population. The other 2, S. sericea and S. alatum—components of a semi wetland ecosystem and sandy areas, respectively—are represented in the Arabian Peninsula by 2 relict populations. Morphology, habitat descriptions, illustrations, and taxonomic commentary of all 3 taxa are presented. Key words: Odyssea, Sesbania, Sesamum, Tihama region, Jazan Province, Saudi Arabia, Somalia-Masai region Introduction For several decades the flora of Saudi Arabia was thought to be poor in terms of plant diversity. This .
