The distribution and origin of this species in the UAE is uncertain. <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00262941"">RBGE Herbarium</a> holds one specimen from Al Khazna on the Abu Dhabi - Al Ain road (from cultivated garden; coll. R.A. Western, 1984). MEW (2010) considered the species ""not common"", restricted as a weed to plantations, without distribution data. Jongbloed et al. (2003) cite presence in Al Ain and Ghail. A wild individual has also been recorded from Masafi. The global range of this species is from the Caucasus to Central Asia and the western Himalayas, and south to Saudi Arabia in the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species is fairly widespread in parts of Dubai within the UAE, including with the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve and generally within the south and west of the UAE (MEW 2010, G. Brown pers. comm. 2019). Globally, this species occurs from the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia to Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019; Lopez Poveda 2012).

Within the UAE, this species has been recorded from Wadi Diftah in the northeast of the country (Jongbloed et al. 2003), from Wadi Al Ain (Sharjah Seedbank & Herbarium), and from Wadi Wurayah National Park (Feulner 2016). Globally, the native range of this species spans from Macaronesia to the Sahara, the Arabian Peninsula, and east to Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). It has been recorded from adjacent countries in the Arabian Peninsula, including from Al Wajajah in Wadi Hatta, Oman, close to the border with the UAE.

Within the UAE, it has been recorded once (without specific locality details; Jongbloed et al. 2003), however this record needs to be confirmed (MEW 2010). There is a specimen of this species within the Sharjah Museum, although this is believed to have been collected from Oman. The species is not listed for the UAE by Kameswara Rao (2013). Globally, this species is native from the Sahara to southern Africa, in addition to the Arabian Peninsula and India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, this species occurs along the northern Arabian Gulf coast (Jongbloed et al. 2003), with more recent records from Wadi Al Ain (Mousa and Fawzi 2009) and Jebel Hafeet (Sakkir and Brown 2014). Herbarium records include specimens from <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00358104"">Al Dhayd</a> (RBGE Edinburgh). Al Mehairbi et al. (2019) show a continuous distribution from the Gulf coast, along the foothills of the Hajar Mountains, and south and east to Al Ain. Globally, this species occurs across most of Africa, southern Europe, through the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East, to Central and West Asia (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018). It has been introduced to the Americas (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018) and to large parts of Europe (DAISIE 2019).

Within the UAE, it has been recorded from the Ru'us al-Jibal and Umm al Quwain (Jongbloed et al. 2003). It is known to occur up to 1,525 m in altitude in the Ru'us al-Jibal (Feulner 2011). Globally, the native range of this species ranges from the Canary Islands and northern Africa to the Arabian Peninsula and on to Iran (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, this species occurs in scattered locations including the Abu Dhabi Emirate, Al Ain, Dubai, Fujairah and the Ru'us al-Jibal (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Feulner 2011). Feulner (2011) found it to be a low-altitude ruderal species in the Ru'us al-Jibal. The global native distribution spans from north-east Africa, through the Arabian Peninsula to India and Bangladesh (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, this species was known from the southern Hajar Mountains and from near Al Ain (Jongbloed et al. 2003, G.R. Feulner in litt. MEW 2010), in addition to Jebel Hafeet (Fawzi and Ksiksi 2012), although it appears that many of these literature locality records occur in Oman rather than in the UAE (G.R. Feulner in litt. MEW 2010); in support of this, most of the localities shown in Jongbloed et al. (2003) for the species occur within Oman rather than the UAE). EAD (S. Sakkir pers. comm. 2019) hold records from several areas on Jebel Hafeet, including Wadi Tarabat. However, the species appears to be expanding its range northwards, perhaps partly due to its apparent ability to colonise silt behind dams (G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2019). In recent years it has been confirmed from the outskirts of Fujairah city (G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2019), from southeast of Shawka, just off the Sharjah-Kalba Road (D. Aplin pers. comm. 2019, i.d. G.R. Feulner) and from Wadi Shawka, Wadi Ham, Al-Qowr, Al Munay, Hatta and Masfut (Sharjah Seedbank & Herbarium; S. Gairola pers. comm. 2019). Globally, this species occurs from the Sahara to Kenya and on to the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, it has been recorded from the Wadi Wurayah National Park, the Hajar Mountains and Jebel Hafeet (Stuart and Stuart 1998, Jongbloed et al. 2003, Judas 2016).

Within the UAE, it has been recorded from both Al Ain and Abu Dhabi (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Globally, the native range of this species includes northern Africa, Macaronesia, the Mediterranean and through to Iran, according to Plants of the World online (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). GRIN (2019) exclude the Arabian Peninsula from the natural range of this species. G.R. Feulner (in litt., MEW 2010) suggests that the species may be a recent introduction to the UAE.