The distribution of this species within the UAE is uncertain, as a result of confusion with other members of the genus. It is considered present in the country by RBG Edinburgh (A. Forrest pers. comm. 2018), and the RBG Edinburgh Herbarium holds two specimens; from <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00209886"">Qarn Naswa </a>and <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00209881"">Jebel Milaya (Meleiha)</a>, both originally determined as C. conglomeratus. The native range of the species is from Cape Verde, West tropical Africa, through the Arabian Peninsula to north-western India and the western Indian Ocean (Väre and Kukkonen 2005, Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, this species is only known from two localities; a plantation at Lulayah near Khor Fakkan (Western 1987) on the east coast, and from Al Ain near Jebel Hafeet (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Continued presence at both sites requires verification, given the age of the records and the extensive commercial and urban development that has occurred at both localities in recent years. Globally, this species occurs in Central and East Africa, through the Arabian Peninsula, to Pakistan and India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).

This species is described as being 'widespread' within the UAE and growing within plantations (Jongbloed et al. 2003). In addition, R. Western recorded this species from Abu Dhabi. The global distribution of this species is uncertain. GRIN (2019) considers it to be native to West Asia (Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq), Central Asia, western China and the Caucasus, introduced and naturalised elsewhere. Plants of the World Online (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019), gives the native distribution as northern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and central Asia. In the Arabian Peninsula, this species is known from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait (Miller and Cope 1996). There don't appear to be any current specimens collected from the UAE within the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's Herbarium collection (RGBE Edinburgh 2019).

This species is recorded for the UAE by the draft Red Data Book (MEW 2010), however no distribution data has been found. G.R. Feulner has not recorded the species for the UAE (pers. comm. 2019). This species has been considered to be restricted to the mountain areas in northern Oman, where it is found in the Western and Eastern Hajar Mountains (Huber-Morath 1984, Patzelt 2014), however, according to S. Ghazanfar (pers. comm. 2019), the species is found in northern Oman, on the mountains, on rocky slopes and mountain sides, amongst rocks, and in crevices, from 400 to 1,800 m elevation, and extends into the UAE.

The draft Red Data Book for UAE plants (MEW 2010) considered this species to be common along the Gulf coast and adjacent salt flats in the sandy deserts in the south of the Emirates. It has also been recorded from Al Ain area. Jongbloed et al. (2003) considered T. nilotica the valid name with T. arabica as a synonym, giving the distribution as along the Arabian Gulf coastline, as well as in sandy desert areas with near-surface brackish water.

The current presence and origin of this species in the UAE are uncertain. Jongbloed et al. (2003) listed 'Salix cf. acmophylla' and showed a single site in the northern Hajar Mountains in the UAE, based on a record of a solitary plant in a wadi bed plantation near Al-Ghail (G.R. Feulner, in litt, MEW 2010), but that plant was not found on a return visit to the area a number of years later (G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2019). Feulner (2001) and Jongbloed et al. (2003) reported two sites with small stands of S. acmophylla in wadis in Wilayat Mahdhah, Oman, adjacent to the UAE border north of Buraimi. Feulner (pers. comm. 2019) noted that all records from northern Oman and the UAE are from agricultural or peri-agricultural areas. This species occurs mainly in the Middle East, from Sinai and Turkey east through Iran and Iraq to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India, with a few scattered population in the Arabian Peninsula (Nasir and Ali 1980-2005). In the Arabian Peninsula, this species is known from north-west and the east of Saudi Arabia (Chaudhary 2001) and Oman (Miller and Cope 1996).

Within the UAE, this species has been recorded from a small number of localities. A.R. Western collected the species from Kalba oasis in 1985 from c.3 km inland (Jongbloed et al. 2003, <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00358122"">UAE Herbarium specimen</a>), however, the Kalba area was searched for this species over the period 2007-2009 without success according to Shahid and Rao (2017). G.R. Feulner (pers. comm. 2019) has found the species c.10 km north of Kalba. Shahid and Rao (2017) found a new locality for this species 200 m from the Gulf coast near Oud Al Owaid in Umm al-Quwain Emirate (although Shahid and Rao (2017) refer to the site being in Ra's Al Khaimah Emirate), however when this site was revisited in 2013, it was found to have been cleared for development, and the species was not refound (Shahid and Rao 2017). Al Meharibi et al. (2019) consider the species to be restricted to Kalba. G.R. Feulner (in litt, MEW 2010) reported the species from a tributary of Wadi Shawka (Ra's Al Khaimah) and G.R. Feulner (pers. comm. 2019) reported that the species has been found at other peri-anthropic and wild localities. The Sharjah Seedbank and Herbarium hold a herbarium specimen from Sharjah city (Al Wahda Street, Sharjah), however, this locality is heavily urbanised, and whilst the locality is within an unpaved car parking area, the persistence of the species at this site requires confirmation. The global distribution of this species is across Africa from the Sahara to Somalia and south to Tanzania, the eastern Mediterranean and through the Arabian Peninsula to Southeast Asia (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). The distribution shown by Fowler (2002) omits parts of the Arabian Peninsula, including Oman, Qatar and the UAE. GRIN (2019) cite only Saudi Arabia for the Arabian Peninsula. G.R. Feulner (in litt, MEW 2010) reported the species from a wadi at the base of Jebel Ghawil in Oman, and in the Arabian Peninsula, while A. Patzelt and S.G. Knees (unpublished Arabian Peninsula Red List assessment) gave the regional distribution as occurring in Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, including Socotra (Miller and Morris 2004, Cope 2007).

The species is apparently known from Mushrif National Park (now a suburban park, but originally a traditional oasis where remnant native flora were found) in Dubai (coll. K. Müller-Hohenstein, 1986; <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00450010"">RBGE Herbarium</a>). The species is also known from a locality near the Emirates Road in Sharjah (Sharjah Seedbank & Herbarium record). The origin and distribution of the species within the UAE requires confirmation. The global range of this species is circum-Mediterranean, through much of the Arabian Peninsula, east to India and north to Central Asia (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

The species is mentioned by Jongbloed et al. (2003) without details. The species has been recorded from Jebel Hafeet (Sakkir and Brown 2014) and from Fujairah (RBG Edinburgh Herbarium; Jebal Ruwaydah at the head of Wadi Sidakh). More recent surveys confirm that the species is abundant in deserts in the northern Gulf (G. Brown pers. comm. 2019). The native range of this species is along Mediterranean coastal countries of North Africa to Ethiopia, and the eastern Mediterranean (from Greece eastwards), through the Arabian Peninsula, to Mongolia (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). The species has become widespread and invasive in arid and semi-arid regions of North America and Australia (CABI 2019).

This species has been recorded in the UAE (Jongbloed et al. 2003), although detailed information regarding its distribution is lacking. Globally this species occurs in Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).