I. Fries & M.G. Gilbert. Flora of Somalia 1:138-139
Plants shrublets, to 75 cm tall, glabrous or miutely puberulent; stems glaucous, divariate to erect, longitudinally wrinkled and often darkening when dry. Leaves scalelike, 1-1.5 mm long, more or less appressed to the stems except at the tips. Flowers solitary; bracteoles ovate, 1-2 mm long. Perianth segments lanceolate, 3.5-4 mm long, margins narrowly scarious, lower 1/3 brownish, sharply delimited for the upper green part; filaments about 3.5 mm long; anthers linear, about 2.2 mm long; styles about 1.5 mm long. Fruiting perianth strongly accrescent, to 6 mm long, conspicuously transversly winged, wings orbicular, very pale brown, scarious, with numerous, parallel veins, 3-5 mm long from junction of the green herbacous part and the brown, indurated part.
Halothamnus somalensis grows in Acacia woodlands/bushlands, usually with Commiphora, often, but not always on limestone at elevations of 15-15550 m. It is known from regions N1-N3, C1-C2, S1 of the Flora of Somalia plus Djibouti and Ethiopia.
It stains lips and teeth black when chewed or eaten, a fact reflected in the Somali name "Gosomadowbeye" which means black molar teeth.
Leaves: scalelike, 1-1.5 mm long, appressed to the stems for most of their length.
Flowers 3-4 mm long, scarious, perianth becoming 6 mm long and strongly accescent and forming conspicuous transverse wings in fruit.
Halothamnus resembles Salsola in having perianths develop conspicuous transverse wings in fruit but, in Halothamnus, the base of the tepals form a short, vertical tube in fruit. Its scalelike leaves distinguish it from the other species of Halothamnus that, so far, is known only from Puntland and Somalia, H. beckettii.