There seems to be little information available regarding this species in the UAE, both under Caroxylon arabicum and under other synonyms for the species, and the presence and distribution of the species in the UAE requires confirmation. However, it has been suggested that it could be widespread throughout the western region of the UAE, on near-coastal plains. This species is native to the Arabian Peninsula (Gulf States, Saudi Arabia; Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, this species is believed to be restricted to the Ru'us al-Jibal (Feulner 2011), however it has been suggested that these records may actually refer to individuals of Roemeria hybrida [= Papaver dodecandrum (Forssk.) Medik.] (Jongbloed et al. 2003). In the Ru'us al-Jibal, it has been recorded at altitudes between c. 750 m - 1,600 m (Feulner 2011). Globally, the native range of this species extends from Turkey to the Arabian Peninsula and Central Asia (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species has been described as occurring within low dunes in the northern Emirates (G.R. Feulner, in litt, MEW 2010). It also considered to grow in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, Jebel Nazwah, Jebel Ali and in Dubai (G. Brown and S. Sakkir pers. comm. 2019, Sharjah Seed Bank & Herbarium pers. comm. 2019), in addition to further scattered localities (D. Aplin pers. comm. 2019). Globally, the native range of this species spans from Somalia and Ethiopia to the Arabian Peninsula and India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Jongbloed et al. (2000) recorded this species from the Ru'us al-Jibal and the Masafi area, based (respectively) on specimens by A.R. Western (scree slope at 1,500 m asl; Sharjah Natural History Museum Herbarium, depicted in Feulner (2011) in Fig. 5.3.31) and B. Böer (UAE University Herbarium). The global distribution of this species is from Karpathos (Greece) to the eastern Mediterranean and Iran, and North Africa (Libya and Egypt) to the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species was first recorded for the the UAE from the Hatta region (as 'Pimipinella schweinfurthii'; Böer and Chaudhary 1999) but does not appear since in the available literature for the country, other than a mention in Jongbloed et al. (2003). Globally, this species occurs in Qatar, the UAE and Oman according to Plants of the World online (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). It is considered to be extinct in Egypt (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

The species was recorded for the UAE (Hatta area) by Böer and Chaudhary (1999). RBG Edinburgh Herbarium holds two specimens of Pimpinella cf. puberula from the UAE; 1. <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00648740"">Fujairah Emirate</a> (date palm oasis beside Wadi Seder, between Khatt and Dibba, in an area of steep rocky hills and wadis, however this locality requires confirmation), collected by R.A. Western, 1982; and 2. <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00648741"">Wadi al Fay, Hatta</a>, 1984: although the herbarium record cites this for the UAE, the coordinates given (24'° 42' N, 56'° 11' E) are in Oman. The species was also recorded by Karim and Fawzi (2007) from R'as al Khaimah, Khor Fakkan, and from Al Ain. The species has a disjunct temperate Asian distribution that perhaps requires confirmation; known from the Arabian Peninsula and from Central Asia (western China (Xinjiang, Hami), Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, southern Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). The species is also recorded from Iran.

Jongbloed et al. (2003) recorded this species from the hills between Masafi and Dibba in the northeast of the UAE, in addition to Wadi Diftah and the Ru'us al-Jibal. However, the identity of records require confirmation, and pending further study, we consider there to be one species in the UAE, P. decaisnei. Globally, this species is native to Europe, Africa, temperate Asia and the western Himalayas (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, this species has been recorded once only from the Ru'us al-Jibal (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Feulner 2011). Globally, the native range of this species extends from western Europe to Macaronesia, the Mediterranean, Ethiopia and Iran (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species has been recorded from the UAE (Jongbloed et al. 2003) but without locality, and no other references to the species in the UAE have been found in the literature. The draft Red Data Book for the UAE (MEW 2010) considers the record to be unconfirmed. Globally, the species occurs across northern Africa to the Sinai and the eastern Mediterranean, and south into Saudi Arabia (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). Abdel Khalik (2002) gives the distribution as Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Yemen, Israel, Chad and North Africa (Egypt to Morocco), excluding the UAE.

Jongbloed et al. (2003) only had a single record of this species for the UAE, from Wadi Hayl (Fujairah). The species has recently been reported from Wadi Ghalilah, Ra's al-Khaimah (Shahid 2017). Outside the UAE, its native range is extended from eastern Egypt to Somalia, through the Arabian Peninsula, to northwest India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).