In the UAE, it has been recorded from the Ru'us al-Jibal (MEW 2010). Western recorded the species from 10 km north of Masafi town (coll. R.A. Western, 1990, <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00086574"">RBGE Herbarium</a>, and also recorded by Karim). Globally, the native range of this species spans from the eastern Mediterranean through to central Asia and Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, it is known from a single locality in Wadi Siji (Jongbloed et al. 2003, MEW 2010). However, it is unclear whether this record represents both this species and its relative, Corallocarpus schimperi, or if it relates only to C. schimperi. Globally, this species occurs from Senegal and Eritrea to Tanzania, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). Plants of the World Online do not list the UAE as a native country of occurrence for this species (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, this species occurs in the Liwa area to the south of the country. It is also found in inland plantation sites. The distribution is uncertain due to confusion with Cistanche tubulosa. Globally, the native range of this species spans across the Mediterranean, Macaronesia and northern Africa to the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, this species has so far been recorded from Jebel Mleiha (Sharjah Emirate; reported by T. Carlisle via S.A. Ghazanfar pers. comm. 2019), Wadi Helo (El-Keblawy et al. 2016; record with photo, no specimen; S.A. Ghazanfar pers. comm. 2019), Jebel Mleiha (S.A. Ghazanfar pers. comm. 2019), in the western Ru'us al-Jibal (single locality above Wadi Sha'am; Feulner 2011), and in the Masafi area (G.R. Feulner, in litt, MEW 2010), including from Wadi Siji in the Wadi Wurayah National Park buffer zone (Feulner 2016). This species appears to have a Mediterranean distribution, but with no records from Libya, Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean, except Turkey, where it is considered introduced (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019), although Marhold considers it native there. TavÅŸanoäŸlu et al. (2017) give the general distribution as Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia in North Africa, Spain (including the Baleares), France, Italy and Greece in Europe, and Turkey. However, there are mentions of this species from Saudi Arabia and from Iraq; the distribution is clearly not well understood, with the species having only just been reported from North Macedonia (Matevski et al. 2019).

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).