Sphaerocoma

Sphaerocoma is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Caryophyllaceae. The only species is Sphaerocoma hookeri.^[1]

Sphaerocoma
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Caryophyllaceae
Genus:	Sphaerocoma T.Anderson
Species:	S. hookeri
Binomial name
Sphaerocoma hookeri T.Anderson

Its native range is Egypt to Northeastern Tropical Africa (Sudan, Eritrea, and Somalia), Sinai Peninsula, Arabian Peninsula, southern Iran, and southwestern Pakistan.^[1]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized:^[1]

• Sphaerocoma hookeri subsp. aucheri (Boiss.) Kool & Thulin – Arabian Peninsula, southern Iran, and southwestern Pakistan
• Sphaerocoma hookeri subsp. hookeri – Egypt, Eritrea, Sinai, Socotra, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen

Ecology

In the South Iran Nubo–Sindian desert and semi-desert ecoregion of southern Iran and southwestern Pakistan, Sphaerocoma hookeri subsp. aucheri in association with Euphorbia larica forms one of the ecoregion's typical plant communities.^[2]