Botanical name: Zygophyllum paulayanum    Family: Zygophyllaceae (Caltrop family)
Synonyms: Fagonia indica var. schweinfurthii, Fagonia schweinfurthii

Desert Fagonia is an annual to biennial shrublet, up to 25 cm tall, glandular to hairless. Stem is basally woody, branches prostrate to erect, round, striped, with up to 1-3 cm long internodes. Lower leaves are trifoliolate, leaf-stalk, up to 1.0-1.2 cm long. Upper leaves are unifoliolate, with up to 5 mm long leaf-stalk; leaflets linear-oblong, up to 3.5 cm long, pointed, central the largest; stipular spines aculeate, shorter than leaves and internodes, patent, not reflexed. Flowers are pinkish-purple, about 8-10 mm across, flower-stalk up to 6 mm long. Sepals are ovate, 3-4 mm long, sparsely glandular hairy outside, deciduous or semi-persistent. Petals are obovate, 4-6 mm long, about 2-3 mm broad, blunt. Stamens have 3-4 mm long filaments. Capsules are about 4 mm long velvet-hairy, flower-stalk about twice as long as fruit. Desert Fagonia is found in India, Pakistan, Iran, Aden, Eritrea, Aethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and Kenya. Flowering: All year.
Medicinal uses: The whole plant is used in variety of diseases including hepatic ailments in deserts and dry areas of India.

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The flower labeled Desert Fagonia is ...