Within the UAE, this species is widespread in the Hajar Mountains and in the Ru'us al-Jibal, and also found on offshore islands (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Feulner found the species to c. 1,100 m asl in the Ru'us al-Jibal. The global native range of the species is from the south-east of the Arabian Peninsula to Iran and India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

The species is known from a small number of scattered records. Jongbloed et al. (2003) cited records from Masafi, Al Ain and Ras al Khaimah. The species is also known from RBGE Herbarium records from <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00687349"">Jebel Hafeet</a> (lower slopes near Ain al Faidah, coll. R.A. Western, 1982), from steep rocky hills and wadis between <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00687361"">Khatt and Dibba </a>(R.A. Western, coll. 1982), and from near <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00687350"">Hatta </a>(bare, heavily eroded hills, coll. R.A. Western 1982). Feulner (2011) found it to occur regularly at higher elevations in the Ru'us al-Jibal from 250 to 1,600 m elevation. The global range of this species is from Mauritania, through the sahel, to north-east Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). In Oman, the species is found in southern Oman, Dhofar in the foothills and plains, in gravelly and stony places. Elsewhere in the Arabian Peninsula, the species is found in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen, and also on Socotra (S. Ghazanfar pers. comm. 2019).

This species occurs in the Ru'us al-Jibal in the UAE (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Feulner 2011). It is regularly seen at high altitudes, although it persists at a range of elevations (Feulner 2011) Globally, this species occurs in Oman, the UAE, the Middle East and Central Asia (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).

Brown and Sakkir (2004) report the species from rocky habitats in Abu Dhabi Emirate, without details. The draft Red Data Book for the UAE considered the species to be common in the northern region of the UAE (MEW 2010). The full distribution is not clear as a result of confusion with other members of the genus in the UAE. Feulner (2011) recorded S. raddiana from higher elevations in the Ru'us al-Jibal, and considered S. paradisea to be a synonym of S. raddiana. The native range of the species is Egypt and Somalia in Africa, through the Arabian Peninsula, and east to Afghanistan and the western Himalaya (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).

In the UAE, this species is widespread in the Hajar Mountains, and also occurs on Jebel Hafeet (Jongbloed et al. 2003). The species occurs in the southern Ru'us al-Jibal to c. 750 m (Feulner 2011) and in Wadi Wurayah National Park (WWNP; Feulner 2016). The global range of this species is Oman and the UAE in the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

In the UAE, this species is widespread in the Hajar Mountains, including the Ru'us al-Jibal (Feulner 2016), and on hillsides, also occurring occasionally on sand and gravelly plains (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Feulner 2014, 2016). G.R. Feulner (in lit, MEW 2010) notes that the species occurs on sandy gravelly plains as far west as the Sweihan area. The species occurs on Jebel Hafeet (Stuart and Stuart 1998, Fawzi and Ksiksi 2012), in the 'Olive Highlands' (Feulner 2014), and rarely in the Wadi Wurayah National Park (WWNP; Feulner 2016). The global range of this species is from the Arabian Peninsula to Iran (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

In the UAE, this species is recorded from sand plains near Al Ain (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Jongbloed et al. (2003; based on records from a helicopter survey by Mandaville in the early 1980s; G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2020) records the species from the high Ru'us al-Jibal. However, in his checklist of the Ru'us al-Jibal species, Feulner (2011) only records this species from Jazirat al-Ghanem in northern Oman, and G.R. Feulner (pers. comm. 2020) confirmed that the Mandaville records are from Oman. G. Brown (pers. comm. 2019) considers that the species is absent from the UAE. It is possible that records should instead refer to O. arabicus. The global range of this species extends across northern Africa, and through the Arabian Peninsula to Iran and Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species is thought to persist at a range of altitudes, with records from around 900 m in the Ru'us al-Jibal (Feulner 2011). It has been recorded at Jebel Hafeet in the UAE (Sakkir and Brown 2013). This species is known to be native to Iran (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species was recently recorded for the UAE from Sa'aa, Al Ain, near the border with Oman (EAD; S. Sakkir pers. comm. 2019). The species may be introduced, but it is probably one of several species, more common further south in Oman, that taper out northwards, and have their northernmost outliers in the Al-Ain area, at the northern end of Jebel Hafeet (G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2020). This species is native to the southern Arabian Peninsula (Oman and Yemen; Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). Plants of the World Online does not list the UAE as a native country of occurrence for this species (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, this species is widespread throughout the northern Emirates (G. Brown pers. comm. 2019, Jongbloed et al. 2003). The native range of this species spans across Africa and Indo-China (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).