Mediterranean countries. It is reported to grow
wild in the islands of Cyprus, Malta, Sicily,
Canary cape, Cape Verde and arid tracts of India.
This is a hardy perennial tropical plant that can be
cultivated in drought prone areas and is one of the
crops whose potential is yet to be exploited,
despite being identified as 'a new plant resource
with the most promising prospects in the world'.
In India, it is scattered in the wild, along the coast
of southern India.