Moonlight Pollination, or Gone With the Wind? – Pollination in the genus Ephedra
Amotz Dafni, Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, and the Evolution Institute, Haifa University. adafni@research.harifa.ac.il
Keywords: nocturnal pollination, insect pollination, wind pollination, exposed seed, fflowering
The genus Ephedra comprises 55 to 65 species. So far pollination has been studied in only 10 of them. Only two species, Ephedra aphylla (the Leafy Shrubby Horsetail) and Ephedra foemina (the Persian Ephedra) were found to be ambophilous – both pollinated by both insects and wind. So far no species has been found that is exclusively pollinated by insects. In the remainder of the species all were found to be anemophilous – pollinated exclusively by wind.
In this article we survey the pollination modes, and the probable evolution of the genus Ephedra.
Summary of the Kalanit Study Tour in the Judean Plain and Southern Mount Hebron 16 & 17 March, 2016
Avi Shmida, Department of Ecology and Evolution and the Center for the Study of Rationality, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. avi.shmida@gmail.com
Gadi Pollak, Kalanit editorial, gadpollak@gmail.com
Zvika Avni and Mimi Ron participated in the preparation of the summarized material. Photographs: Erga Aloni, Lior Almagor, Shmuel Dadon, Hava Lahav, Uzi Paz.
Keywords: Royal Irises, Amatzia, antipastoral, Rhamnus lycioides, Tamarix aphylla, Fritillaria persica (Fritillaria arabica), Stipa capensis, Brassicaceae, Ye'elim Wadi, Neta, transition belt vegetation, Tel Arad, Tel Krayot
The stops during the study tour were along the geobotanical gradient from the southern Judean plain to the Arad region, beginning at the southern fringe of the Mediterranean vegetation, through the transition belt, to the desert vegetation. The hills of the southern Judean plain enjoyed a quantity of rain plants stand, and the richness of the flowering were well above the usual. This season the performance of the plants in the transition belt and the desert was average and below, and in the Arad region the spatial spread pattern of the rain was patchy, and accordingly even in the sites of the desert vegetation, the quantity of flora and flowering was below average.
