*2.1. Specimen Collection and Data Acquisition*

Twenty species from the order Caryophyllales were included in this study. Of these, 13 species (36 samples) were collected from the field between 2019 and 2020, and 7 species were retrieved from the NCBI GenBank. All the studied species are from the United Arab Emirates (Figure 1), and their information is provided in Table S1. Overall, we collected between one and eight specimens per species. Our collection did not involve protected areas or endangered species.

**Figure 1.** Map showing collection sites of plant samples for DNA barcoding and seed bank collections.

The collected species included herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees, which occur in a range of habitats, including sandy, coastal plains, mountain ridges, and wadi beds. Species such as *Haloxylon salicornicum*, *Gisekia pharnacioides*, and *Aerva javanica* had the highest number of accessions, while *Tamarix nilotica* and *Amaranthus hybridus* had the lowest number. Morphological identification of all plant species was based on reliable diagnostic characters and available literature on local flora [62–65], produced by researchers who have worked in the field exploring UAE's flora for about one decade. The voucher specimens for collected species were curated by the Sharjah Seedbank and Herbarium (SSBH), Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA), for record and references. According to the literature survey, the plant species included in the present study have medicinal values and are used in the treatment of various ailments (Table S2).
