Zygophyllum coccineum, Tetraena coccinea, Scarlet-flowered Bean-Caper,
Hebrew: זוגן אדום, Arabic: نبات الهرم، حماض، بطباط، رطريط

Scientific name:		Zygophyllum coccineum L.
Synonym name:		Tetraena coccinea (L.) Beier & Thulin
Common name:		Scarlet-flowered Bean-Caper, humaz, batbat, r’utrit
Hebrew name:		זוגן אדום
Arabic name:		نبات الهرم، حماض، بطباط، رطريط
Family:		Zygophyllaceae, Bean Caper Family, or Caltrop Family, משפחה זוגניים

Life form:		Chamaephyte, much branched undershrub, up to 75 cm high, up to 100 cm wide
Spinescence:		Absent
Stems:		Much branched, woody at base with fleshy erect or ascending branches covered in spring with appressed, greyish hairs, later glabrous
Leaves:		Opposite, cylindrical, up to 14 mm long, 3-4.5 mm wide, fleshy, petiole up to 20 mm long, stipules triangular, herbaceous, 1×1.5 mm, pubescent.
Inflorescence:		Flowers solitary, axillary, pedicellate
Flowers:		Hermaphrodite only; sepals 5, rounded-obtuse at the apex, herbaceous, yellowish green, opovate, 4-6×2-3 mm, pubescent, aestivation imbricate. Petals 5, pale yellow , spathulate, 5-7×2-2.5 mm. Stamens 10, ovary superior, 5carpelled, 5-loculed covered with apressed pubescence.
Fruits / pods:		Schizocarp, cylindrical; seeds ovate, acute, and tuberculate
Flowering Period:		February, March, April
Habitat:		Desert, Thermophilous plants
Distribution:		Dead-Sea Valley, Southern Negev, Arava Valley
Chorotype:		Saharo-Arabian
Summer shedding:		Perennating

Derivation of the botanical name: Zygophyllum, zygo (Greek), "joined, yoked"; phyllon, phyll, φυλλον, "leaf", foliage. coccineum, deep red, from scarlet to carmin and crimson. The Hebrew name: זוגן, zugan, from זוג, zug, pair, referring to the paired leaves of many of the species. The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy. Location: Nahal Shani Riverbed (red Nubbian sandstone) in the Eilat Mountains.