In the UAE, it was recorded in 2009 from Khor Kalba's protected area, before the area was designated. Globally, the native range of this species spans from Sahara to Tanzania, the Arabian Peninsula and India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

G.R. Feulner (in litt, MEW 2010) stated that this plant has been recorded a few times in the UAE. However, there is a lack of distribution data available. Globally, this species is distributed across North Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan, India and Thailand (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).

Brown and Sakkir (2004) report the species from rocky habitats in Abu Dhabi Emirate, without details. The draft Red Data Book for the UAE considered the species to be common in the northern region of the UAE (MEW 2010). The full distribution is not clear as a result of confusion with other members of the genus in the UAE. Feulner (2011) recorded S. raddiana from higher elevations in the Ru'us al-Jibal, and considered S. paradisea to be a synonym of S. raddiana. The native range of the species is Egypt and Somalia in Africa, through the Arabian Peninsula, and east to Afghanistan and the western Himalaya (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).

In the UAE, this species is recorded from sand plains near Al Ain (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Jongbloed et al. (2003; based on records from a helicopter survey by Mandaville in the early 1980s; G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2020) records the species from the high Ru'us al-Jibal. However, in his checklist of the Ru'us al-Jibal species, Feulner (2011) only records this species from Jazirat al-Ghanem in northern Oman, and G.R. Feulner (pers. comm. 2020) confirmed that the Mandaville records are from Oman. G. Brown (pers. comm. 2019) considers that the species is absent from the UAE. It is possible that records should instead refer to O. arabicus. The global range of this species extends across northern Africa, and through the Arabian Peninsula to Iran and Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species was recently recorded for the UAE from Sa'aa, Al Ain, near the border with Oman (EAD; S. Sakkir pers. comm. 2019). The species may be introduced, but it is probably one of several species, more common further south in Oman, that taper out northwards, and have their northernmost outliers in the Al-Ain area, at the northern end of Jebel Hafeet (G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2020). This species is native to the southern Arabian Peninsula (Oman and Yemen; Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). Plants of the World Online does not list the UAE as a native country of occurrence for this species (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

In the UAE, this species was for a long time recorded only from the Ru'us al-Jibal (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Feulner 2011) but it was also known to occur in northern Oman (Ghazanfar 1992). It has since been recorded for Wadi Helo (coll. A. El-Keblawy, 2010; Sharjah Seedbank & Herbarium) and from Wadi Mai, Fujairah (Sharjah Seedbank & Herbarium). The global range of this species is from Egypt and northeast Sudan, through the Arabian Peninsula, to Iran and Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). It occurs in adjacent parts of northern Oman, including the Musandam Peninsula.

Within the UAE, this species is recorded from scattered localities in the mountains including the Ru'us al-Jibal (Jongbloed et al. 2003). It is generally found between low to medium elevations (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Feulner 2011). The estimated EOO for this species is around 1,600 km². Globally, the native range of this species encompasses northern Africa and Somalia, in addition to from the Mediterranean to the Arabian Peninsula and on to Iran (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, it is recorded from the Ru'us al-Jibal at two specific sites: Wadi Naqab (Ras Al Khaimah) and Jebel Yibir (Feulner 2011). These localities can be found as 250 m and 1,200 m altitude, respectively (Feulner 2011). Including S. arenosa, the species range extends to the sandy desert of eastern Dubai (Jongbloed et al. 2003). This species is native to Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, it is thought to be recorded from the Hajar Mountains and the Ru'us al-Jibal (Jongbloed et al. 2003). It has been observed at altitudes up to 1,600 m in the Ru'us al-Jibal (Feulner 2011). Globally, the native range of this species spans from the Mediterranean to the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019), including Socotra.

Within the UAE, a single plant of this species was recorded from Wadi Khabb Shamsi in the Ru'us al-Jibal at high elevations (Feulner 2011, 2014), although it is not clear if this record is from within the UAE or from Oman. It is also known to occur in the Hatta area (MEW 2010) and to the south, in the Jebel Akhdar, Oman (Feulner 2011). The material from the Hajar Mountains in Oman is referable to A. leptocladus, differing from the more robust A. serpyllifolia L. in its distribution and habitat, the latter typically a field weed or a mountain plant (S. Ghazanfar pers. comm. 2019). In Oman it is found at high altitudes (900-2,500 m). This species is native to temperate Eurasia and Africa (MEW 2010, Board of Trustees RBG Kew 2019).