It is found in sandy habitats including compacted sand, disturbed soils, wadis and the silt of plantations (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Norton et al. 2009). However, it is also recorded from agricultural areas (Perry 2008) and has been described as a weed in cultivated and abandoned fields (Feulner 2011). This annual herb species has a thick taproot, fleshy branches and rosette leaves (Ghazanfar and Fisher 1998, Jongbloed et al. 2003, Mahmoud et al. 2018). It can grow up to 30 cm in height, produces small green flowers between February to April in addition to both an above ground fruit and a below ground fruit (Jongbloed et al. 2003). It is a salt tolerant plant (Karim and Dakheel 2006) and is an important contributor to biomass in dune and stabilised sand environments (Ghazanfar and Fisher 1998).