The study analyses the floristic diversity, life span, life form and phytogeographic affinities of the flora of Wadi Shuwaib, a desert wadi in the eastern region of the United Arab Emirates. A total of 123 species of vascular plants were recorded belonging to 95 genera and 35 families. The most represented families were Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Poaceae and Brassicaceae. Eleven families were represented by a single species each and 77 (81.9 %) genera were monotypic. Eight species have been recorded for the first time in Abu Dhabi Emirate and represent 1.8% increase in the flora of Abu Dhabi. The recorded flora consists of 50.40% perennials and 49.59% annuals. Therophytes and Chamaephytes were the most frequent lifeforms. Phytogeographical analysis revealed that the biregional elements of the Saharo-Arabian/Sudano-Zambezian chorotype are the most dominant chorotypes (22.76%), forming approximately one fourth of the floristic structure in Wadi Shuwaib. The new additions to the local flora of the region indicate that the Wadi Shuwaib Region and the country need further thorough botanical exploration and documentation which would help in adding new species to the flora of UAE.
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Sakkir et al. (2025) studied this question.
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