Kalanit
Israel Plant Magazine
September 2014
Boissiera squarrosa (Sol.) Nevski – A new plant species to the Israeli Mt. Hermon
Ori Fragman-Sapir ofragman@013.net
University Botanical Gardens – Jerusalem www.botanic.co.il
Boissiera (Poaceae) is a genus close to Bromus. Boissiera squarrosa is a rare plant growing in desert areas in Israel. It was also recently found on Mt. Hermon.
Trees that bloom in the autumn out of the normal season
Avi Shmida avi.shmida@gmail.com
Department of Evolution, Systematics and Behavior and the Center of Rationality, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Givat Ram.
The flowering season of most trees in the Mediterranean region is in spring in keeping with the overall flowering peak season in the country. The months of September to November are a low-flowering season for trees and shrubs in the country and yet, autumn flowering in some woodland trees is often observed, in addition to the regular season. The article describes the extent of the phenomenon, and discusses the ecological and evolutionary significance.
A new colonization of plants on the coast exposed at the Dead Sea
Erga Aloni, Kalanit editor ergaloni@netvision.net.il
Amram Eshel, Tel Aviv University amrame@tauex.tau.ac.il
Yoav Waisel (passed away), Tel Aviv University
First published in: The Dead Sea The Lake and Its Setting (1997). "The botanical conquest of the newly exposed shores of the Dead Sea".
The water level of the Dead-sea dropped gradually over the 30 years between 1962 and 1992. The substrate that was exposed along the receding shore was extremely saline and remained sterile for 4-5 years. During that period, even the low precipitation (average of 50 mm per annum for this area) was enough to leach the substrate. Indeed, it reduced the salinity of the soil to a level that allowed the establishment of a few species of extreme halophytes. Those halophytes constituted the first stage of succession of higher plants on the newly exposed coast. This stage of plant development remained dominant on the examined sites for an additional 4-5 years. When salinity was further reduced, the condition enabled the penetration of various desert species and, thus the establishment of the first stable community. After 8-10 years, a third stage of succession was reached, that is, a plant community by Zygophyllum dumosum. Such a community is usually the permanent community on the neighboring hillsides, away from the coast of the Dead sea. Thus, succession in the Dead sea area is dictated mainly by two abiotic factors: salinity and precipitation.
A new site of the red plant Rosa phoenicia in the southern coastal plain of Israel
Gadi Pollak, Kalanit editorial gadpollak@gmail.com
Ofer Hochberg, Givat Brenner Ofer_h@gbrener.org.il
A new site of Rosa phoenicia (Rosaceae), a red and endangered shrub in Israel, was found near Ayanot. This is a small population of seven plants, growing at the edge of a small seasonal winter pool. Rosa phoenicia is found in several sites in northern Israel, and this site might be its southernmost border of distribution. The last previous report of this plant in this region was in 1977 from a single site near Nahal Soreq, and was never reported again. This might be a new population recently established by means of long range dispersal by birds, or an old population in a site that was never monitored before.
