Kalanit – Juiy 2015

Kalanit
Israel Plant Magazine
July 2015


Peregrinating Bellflower  – a species in danger of extinction in the wild that thrives in botanical gardens and gardens

Erga Aloni, Kalanit editor, ergaloni@netvision.net.il
Ori Fragman-Sapir, the University Botanical Garden, Jerusalem, ofragman@013.net

Keywords: useful plants, medicinal plants, conservation, endangered species, gardening, Upper Galilee, Kziv stream, perennial herb, Campanulaceae, leaf rosette

The Peregrinating Bellflower (Campanula peregrina) is a very rare endangered plant, whose southernmost distribution boundary is the Upper Galilee. Several specimens were found by coincidence 30 years ago in the Upper Galilee, in the Kziv stream. These specimens did not survive in the wild.
During the 1990s, several specimens were found in the same area during a plant survey, and seeds were gathered from them. The seeds germinated and produced plants that constituted a source of reproduction. Attempts to return the plants to nature, which took place in the Jerusalem Botanical Garden in Givat Ram and a garden in the Sharon, demonstrated that the plant scatters seeds naturally, germinates easily, and that the sprouts grow and develop quickly. The plant thrives in gardens under conditions of irrigation, and semi shade. Without irrigation it goes into dehydration and does not survive. This can explain its disappearance from nature due to the absence of regular moisture in the soil.
The plant is a perennial herb which develops a leaf rosette. In February it grows inflorescence stems on which flower bunches grow opposite each other.  The peak of the flowering is in June-August, when the plant is full of impressive purple flowers.  The fruit is a capsule with many small seeds that scatter and germinate easily.

Full Hebrew version


Rare wild trees along the Coastal Plain

Amit Mendelson, Urban Nature Ecologist – the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, amitmendelson@gmail.com

Keywords: Israeli plants, Acer obtusifolium, Pistacia atlantica, Quercus ithaburensis, Styrax officinalis, Phillyrea latifolia,  Sharon, Crataegus azarolus, southern coastal plain

This article briefly surveys several aspects of the distribution of relatively rare wild trees in the central coastal plain.  It includes a survey of the southern distribution boundary, today and in the past, of several Mediterranean trees and shrubs, emphasizing the rare ones among them. Within this framework the literary sources were examined in light of the knowledge that has accumulated in recent years. This discussion raises awareness to the importance of "border populations", and the need for their conservation in light of the heavy development pressures along the coastal plain.

Full Hebrew version


Centaurea pumilio – an endangered species that grows within the confines of Tel-Aviv

Gadi Pollak, Kalanit editorial, gadpollak@gmail.com

Keywords: conservation, endangered species, Aegialophila, biogeography,  salt-spray belt, coast, Asteraceae, systematics, plants of Israel

Centaurea pumilio (Aegialophila pumilio) is an endangered plant along the spray belt along the coast. In the Israeli beaches it is limited to the Carmel beach. An additional population used to grow in Tel-Aviv, and was considered to be extinct.  However, evidence from recent years, and these very days, confirms its existence in Tel-Aviv as a wild plant today as well. The article deals with systematic and biogeographic studies regarding the status of the species, brings up-to-date data on the Tel-Aviv population, and discusses appropriate conservation methods of the species in Israel.

Full Hebrew version

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