In the UAE, this species is restricted to the Hajar Mountains according to Jongbloed et al. (2003), but with additional records from Jebel Hafeet (Jebel Hafeet wadi; 1,240 m; Sakkir et al. 2018) and Wadi Wurayah National Park (Tourenq et al. 2009, Feulner 2011), although the latter record was from the outflow pool below the waterfall and the origin of the species here requires confirmation. The species is planted within sewage farms (MEW 2010) and Western (1982, 1983) recorded the species from the outfall of the old sewage farm on Abu Dhabi Island. The species also occurs in the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary in Dubai. Al Meharibi et al. (2019) show presence northwards through the Hajar Mountains to the Ru'us al-Jibal, although the species is not listed as present there by Feulner (2011). Globally, this species has an almost cosmopolitan distribution, absent only from northern latitudes in North America and Europe, although Plants of the World Online does not include the UAE in its distribution (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). The native distribution of this species is uncertain because of taxonomic and identification confusions (CABI 2019), but we consider the species to probably be native to the UAE following draft Red List assessment for the Arabian Peninsula (Patzelt and Knees 2012).