This species is common along the Arabian Gulf coast of the UAE, from west of Abu Dhabi city to Ras Al-Khaimah (Jongbloed et al. 2003). The species has been recorded from Wadi Wurayah, however the origin of the species here is uncertain, and is likely to be the result of accidental introduction (Feulner 2016). Al Mehairbi et al. (2019) show a very much broader distribution for this species, across almost the entire UAE; it is thought that, if correct, this broader distribution may be the result of introduction. Globally, the species is considered to be native to the Mediterranean and throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa, east through the Middle East and Indian sub-continent to China and to Southeast Asia, south to Australia (The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2019). It occurs as a non-native in parts of Europe, the Pacific island states and through South and Central America, north to parts of the United States (The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2019). Within the Arabian Peninsula, this species is described as widespread and weedy in Saudi Arabia (Chaudhary 2001, Norton et al. 2009), common in Bahrain, Qatar (Norton et al. 2009), Oman (Ghazanfar 1992) and the United Arab Emirates (Western 1989, Jongbloed et al. 2003, Norton et al. 2009) and widespread in Yemen (Wood 1977).