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10 plants worth knowing

Saudi Arabia

Most of Saudi Arabia is desert – from the red dunes of the Nafud to the boundless Rub’ al Khali – where plants cluster in oases and the beds of dry wadis. The Sarawat Mountains in the south-west are a completely different world: thanks to monsoon rains, juniper forests grow there, and roses, coffee and fruit are cultivated on terraces.

Hover over a plant to see on the map where it grows.

where it grows

  1. Date palm 1

    palm · Palm with crossed swords on the national emblem of Saudi Arabia

    Date palm

    Phoenix dactylifera

    The date palm features on the kingdom’s emblem – and the Al-Ahsa oasis is one of the largest palm groves in the world.
  2. Damask rose 2

    shrub · Symbol of the city of Taif

    Damask rose

    Rosa × damascena

    Every year the walls of the Kaaba in Mecca are washed with rose water from Taif – and its rose oil is among the most expensive in the world.
  3. African juniper 3

    tree

    African juniper

    Juniperus procera

    The misty juniper forests around Abha are Saudi Arabia’s only true forests – growing more than 2,000 m above the desert.
  4. Umbrella thorn 4

    tree

    Umbrella thorn

    Vachellia tortilis

    Umbrella-shaped samur acacias give the only shade in the desert – caravans and camel herds have rested beneath them for centuries.
  5. Balm of Gilead 5

    shrub

    Balm of Gilead

    Commiphora gileadensis

    The famous “balm of Mecca”, traded since biblical times, comes from an unassuming shrub of the dry slopes of the Hejaz.
  6. Arabica coffee 6

    crop

    Arabica coffee

    Coffea arabica

    Khawlani coffee is grown on the terraces of the Jazan mountains, and the knowledge of how to grow it is on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list.
  7. Christ’s thorn jujube 7

    tree

    Christ’s thorn jujube

    Ziziphus spina-christi

    Sidr – a thorny wadi tree whose flowers give one of Arabia’s most expensive honeys and whose leaves are traditionally used to wash the dead.
  8. Toothbrush tree 8

    shrub

    Toothbrush tree

    Salvadora persica

    The twigs of this shrub are made into the miswak – a natural toothbrush used on the Arabian Peninsula since the time of the Prophet.
  9. Olive 9

    tree

    Olive

    Olea europaea

    In the desert north, in Al-Jouf, millions of olive trees have sprung up – some of the largest modern olive groves in the world.
  10. Grey mangrove 10

    tree

    Grey mangrove

    Avicennia marina

    The hardiest of mangroves tolerates the very salty, hot waters of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, forming green belts along coasts and islands.