ARAR: The Northern Borders region of Saudi Arabia harbors a quietly remarkable story of botanical diversity, one written in the resilience of desert plants that have learned to thrive where little else can. Among them is the “daqqaqa”, a species that embodies the ingenuity of life in one of the Kingdom’s harshest landscapes.
Known scientifically as “Microparacaryum intermedium,” the daqqaqa is a delicate annual herb with a slender, cylindrical stem that branches outward and reaches no more than 10 to 15 centimeters in height. In the rocky, unforgiving terrain where it takes root, the plant often leans against stones for support, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Its ribbon-shaped leaves, ranging from 1.5 to 3.5 centimeters in length and 0.3 to 0.7 cm in width, transition from stalked to sessile along the stem, an adaptation finely tuned to arid conditions. The plant favors the clay-bottomed floodplains of the region’s villages, where soil retains moisture longer than the surrounding desert, giving the plant just enough to sustain its brief life cycle.
Nasser Arsheed Al-Majlad, chairman of the Aman Environmental Association in the Northern Borders, described the daqqaqa as one of the region’s rare wild plants and a marker of genuine ecological wealth. “Its appearance in only a handful of sites,” he said, underscores the distinctiveness of the local environment and the urgency of protecting it.
Al-Majlad noted that the plant’s classification as a non-grazing species has offered it a degree of natural protection because livestock leave it alone. “But that buffer does not shield it from the mounting pressures of environmental change and human activity.” Safeguarding its natural habitats, he argued, demands more deliberate effort.
Recent rainfall in the Northern Borders, ranging from moderate to heavy, has given the region’s vegetation a visible boost. Shrubs and trees have thickened, and green cover has expanded noticeably in several areas.
Documenting rare species such as the daqqaqa serves a purpose beyond science. It builds public awareness of the biodiversity hidden in desert ecosystems and highlights the fragile micro-environments that sustain these plants; ecosystems that, without active conservation, may not survive for future generations to witness.
The Northern Borders region is one of Saudi Arabia’s ecologically rich frontiers, home to wild plant species finely tuned to extreme conditions, and a powerful reminder of the natural heritage that demands protection.
