Floristic composition of Sahara Area in Libya

The present study aimed to analyze the floristic structure of Desert territory in Libya with focusing on the
distribution of global important species such as medicinal, endemic and rare species. Vegetation survey
was conducted in Al-Joufrah Oases (Hun, Wedan, Soknah, and Zilla). The results revealed that the
Libyan Desert area harbors 244 plant species, which belong to 164 genera and 53 families (108 annual
species and 136 perennial species). One hundred and twenty-seven species were recorded in Joufrah area
including twenty-four species as new records, 26 medicinal plant species, 11 endemic species, and 9 rare
species. The most abundant families were Poaceae (35 species), Fabaceae (27 species), Asteraceae (22
species), Brassicaceae (18 species), and Zygophyllaceae (16 species). Twenty-seven families were
represented by 2-9 species and twenty-two families were represented by only one species. The most
dominant life forms in the area were the annuals followed by the chamaephytes. Phytogeographically,
flora of Libya belongs mainly to Arabian Sahara followed by the Arabian Sahara+ Irano-turranean
Sahara, then the Arabian Sahara and Sudano-Zambesian.