This species is apparently known from few records in the UAE. Jongbloed et al. (2003) reported it from Sweihan (Al Ain region) and from Bu Hasa to the west in Abu Dhabi Emirate (Brown and Sakkir 2004). Fisher (2007) recorded the species on Ras Al Akhdhar, on Abu Dhabi Island, which is now entirely developed. Globally, the species is found from the western Sahara to the Arabian Peninsula (Mandaville 1990, Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Jongbloed et al. (2003) show a narrow distribution through the Hajar Mountains in the UAE. This species has also been recorded within the Olive Highlands in the UAE (Feulner 2014), on the upper parts of Jebel Qitab summit plateau at c.1,000 m elevation. It also occurs in adjacent parts of Oman in the same mountain group, as well as at lower altitudes (Jongbloed et al. 2003). The species is found in fallow fields and in plantations (Jongbloed et al. 2003) and is a ruderal species (Feulner 2014), and its origin in the country perhaps requires confirmation. Globally, this species occurs across the Sahara and northern Africa from Morocco eastwards to the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). Plants of the World Online does not list the UAE as a native country for this species (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019), however Ghazanfar (2015) includes the UAE, Oman, and northern and eastern Saudi Arabia in the regional distribution.

This species is widespread in the Hajar Mountains and the Ru'us al-Jibal (Jongbloed et al. 2003). In the southern Hajar Mountains in the UAE, the species is found along ridges in the 'Olive Highlands' (Feulner 2014), in Wadi Wurayah National Park at all elevations (Feulner 2016), and at all elevations in wadis and on plateaus in the Ru'us al-Jibal (Feulner 2011). The global range of this species is through the Arabian Peninsula to Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Only one record of this species has been found, from Wadi Jeema, near Hatta town (<a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00066936"">RBGE Herbarium</a>, coll. J.N.B. Brown, 1986). There are numerous records from adjacent parts of Oman. It it endemic to the foothills and lower altitudes of the Western and Eastern Hajar mountains, extending to the Hatta hills in the UAE (S. Ghazanfar pers. comm. 2019). Plants of the World Online (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019) considers the species to be endemic to Oman.

Jongbloed et al. (2003) gave the distribution of this species (as the synonym Verbascum cedreti) as the southern parts of the Hajar Mountains in the UAE. The draft Red Data Book for the UAE flora (MEW 2010) considered the species to be widespread in the Hajar Mountains, however G.R. Feulner (in litt, MEW 2010) commented that he has only seen the species associated with cultivation. Most of his observations come from plantations in the Mahdah area of Oman, where there is more water. Mahmoud et al. (2018) found the species only once in their study of dams and water breakers along the western slopes of the Hajar Mountains. Sharjah Seedbank & Herbarium hold a specimen from north of Al Shwaib, Abu Dhabi Emirate. <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00066936"">RBG Edinburgh Herbarium</a> hold a specimen of Verbascum omanense Hub.-Mor., which MEW (2010) considered a synonym of V. sinaiticum, from Wadi Jeema, Hatta town. However, this synonym requires confirmation and it is not currently accepted by Plants of the World Online (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). The native range is given as from north-east Africa (Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia), to Egypt (Sinai mountains) and the eastern Mediterranean, eastwards through Iran to Afghanistan, but excluding the UAE (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species was first recorded for the UAE from Wadi Beh (Bih) by Böer and Chaudhary (1999). Later recorded (as Umbilicus horizontalis var. intermedius) in the UAE from the Ru'us al Jibal, Sha'am (Ras al-Khaimah) and Masafi (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Feulner (2011) recorded the species in the Ru'us al-Jibal from 500 m to at least 1,750 m asl and commented that the species is restricted in the UAE to the Ru'us al Jibal and Masafi, being either rare or absent from the Hajar Mountains to the south. This species has a Mediterranean distribution, present in southern Europe and North Africa, extending east to the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Jongbloed et al. (2003, citing T.A. Cope and F. Karim) reported this species from a few localities at Mafraq and Al Ain (gravel plains below Jebel Hafeet; Al Meharibi et al. 2019). Feulner (in litt., MEW 2010) considered the species to be more widespread, with records from Hulaylah Island (Ras al-Khaimah) and Khor Kalba on the east coast (G. Feulner pers. comm. 2019). It also occurs within the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. The estimated EOO for this species is 18,289 km² and it is considered to occur in fewer than ten threat-based locations. The global distribution of this species is across northern Africa (across the Sahara, and Angola to Namibia) to the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).

The species is found along the northern Gulf coast; in plantations, gardens, and by roadsides (MEW 2010). RBG Edinburgh Herbarium holds specimens from; 1. <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00358081"">Khor Fakkan</a> (Fujairah) in sandy soil, c. 1 km from coast; 2. <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00358082"">3 km north of Shwayb</a>, in fixed dunes, and 3. <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00358092"">Kalba date gardens</a>, 1 km west of Kalba, in a shallow archaeological pit in sandy soil within a former agricultural field. Feulner (2011) did not record the species from UAE parts of the Ru'us al-Jibal. The species has a wide native distribution, from much of Africa, through the Arabian Peninsula to Pakistan, and from China (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). It has been very widely introduced throughout the Americas. It is considered introduced and naturalised in Taiwan (Jung and Cheng 2016), and the origin of the species in mainland China perhaps requires confirmation.

Within the UAE, this species was recorded once from Al Ain (Jongbloed et al. 2003). More recently, it has been recorded from Wadi Hiluw (El-Keblawy 2011, El-Keblawy et al. 2016), Wadi Wurayah National Park (Wadi Wurayah dam area; Feulner 2016), and from a locality northeast of Sfai, Fujairah Emirate (D. Aplin pers. comm. 2019). There is also an unconfirmed record from Ras Al Khaimah (Khatt-Adhen Road; M. Tsaliki pers. comm. 2019). Globally, the native range of this species encompasses Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

There is a lack of information on the exact distribution of this species within the UAE, in great part due to taxonomic uncertainty surrounding its distinction from T. apollinea and T. purpurea. According to Ghazanfar (1992), Tephrosia persica should be treated as the same species as Tephrosia apollinea, whilst S. Ghazanfar (pers. comm. 2019) places T. persica as a synonym of T. purpurea. However, Plants of the World Online currently lists T. persica as a recognised species (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). The native range of this species is the Gulf States in the Arabian Peninsula and Iran (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). The species distribution may extend to southwestern Pakistan (Baluchistan), an Oman-Makaran distribution (G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2020).