Jongbloed et al. (2003) considered this species to be widespread through the Hajar Mountains and along the east coast of the UAE, with scattered occurrences along the Arabian Gulf coast (Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah), as well as inland. In the Ru'us al-Jibal, the species is occasional (Feulner 2011), and the species occurs on the offshore islands of Abu Dhabi Emirate (Sakkir et al. 2017). The species has been recorded from Jebel Hafeet, but considered to be introduced there associated with increased urbanisation (Sakkir and Brown 2014). MEW (2010) considered the species to be common and widespread in wadis and urban areas, in moist locations. This species is widespread globally, and considered native across large parts of Europe, Asia and northern parts of Africa, whilst introduced to the Americas, Australasia, and South Africa (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). However, the origin of the species is unclear as a result of widespread and historical cultivation, and DEEDI (2019) considers the species native to northwestern Africa (i.e. Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia), Europe, western and central Asia (i.e. Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, western Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), China, and the Indian Sub-continent (i.e. northern India, Nepal and Pakistan), introduced and naturalised elsewhere. GRIN (2019) also exclude the Arabian Peninsula from the native distribution of the species.