The present study, which was conducted between 2009
and 2010, provides an analysis of the floristic composition,
life forms, phenology, chorological spectrum and
analysis of the vegetation in the deltaic part of Wadi
Qena using multivariate analysis techniques. Twenty-five
stands were sampled to represent, as much as possible,
the vegetation variation in the study area. A total of 54
species (nineteen annuals and 35 perennials) belonging
to 47 genera and nineteen families were recorded. The
largest families were Fabaceae and Brassicaceae (nine
and seven, respectively), Asteraceae and Poaceae (six for
each), Chenopodiaceae (five), and Zygophyllaceae (four).
Therophytes are the predominant life form (37%) followed
by chamaephytes (24%), phanerophytes (18.5%),
hemicryptophytes (9.29%) and cryptophytes (5.5%). Chorological
analysis revealed that Saharo-Arabian (48%)
and the Sudano-Zambezian (19.2%) chorotypes constitute
the main bulk (67.2%) of the total flora of the studied
area. The majority of the perennial species behave
similarly to each other in their phenology, and usually
perennials sprout at the end of February, become leafy in
March, flower in April and produce fruits between April
and July. Three main vegetation groups resulted from
classification of the dominant vegetation. Canonical correspondence
analysis revealed that magnesium, potassium
and pH were the most effective soil variables.