Redstem Toothcup, Eared Redstem

Ammannia baccifera

Ammannia
baccifera
is found in three regions in Israel: in the Kinarot Valley-Beit tsayda Valley, where it grows in the Yehudiya-Meshushim
(Zachi) Stream lagoons, the Dalyot Stream (Maǧrase) and in the mouth of the Jordan River.
In the Golan, it is very rare and can be found at the Meshushim Stream, among
other sites. In the lower Galilee, in the Bet Netofa Valley; and in the Sharon,
where it was found in 3 locations in 2006: the Dora Pond, the Ga'ash Pond and
in the Herzliya Basa. In the Hula Valley, it was common in the Hula Swamp and
the springs that drained into it, and was collected for the Herbarium several
times during the 1940s from the Hula and Te'o springs (Ǧahula). The
Enan Spring, which formed a wide, shallow stream east of the main highway, was
a major location, where A. baccifera was dominant in the water body up
to the 1980s. Yariv Ivri spotted it last at this location in 1979. It was
collected at the Hula Reserve by Talia Oron and possibly is not extinct there.

In
the past the species grew in three additional regions – in the Philistean Plain,
where it was collected in the Ayalon Stream once in 1926, and is since extinct;
in the lower Jordan Valley, which is mentioned in the Flora Palaestina,
although there are no Herbarium specimens, nor was it found in the rare species
survey; at Feshkha spring where it was collected in 1943, but has not been seen
there at least since 1976.

Small
puddles on rocky or silt soil; the edges of exposed swamp and stream banks (and
those which have collapsed) of swamps and streams. Ammannia baccifera
can also grow on land outside water, but is often found growing and even dominant
in the form of carpets on the water. In this case, there must have been a prior
period that the area was not covered by water, which is when germination would
have occurred. 

The
genus Ammannia includes 25 species with broad ranges in tropic and
sub-tropic regions. A few species have become summer crop weeds in temperate
regions. Most of the species grow in water bodies, and some are even submerged.
The species growing in Israel displays a clear tropic affinity: Ammannia is an excellent example of a hydrophilic tropical element (e.g. Cyperus papyrus) that spread along the Nile River or the Great Rift Valley and reach
the edge of their northern range at the Jordan River system. Tilapia fish are also part of this biogeographic group.

The Flora Palaestina and plant guides note the
species Ammannia prieureana in Israel. This tropical species was found in Israel a single time at
the Dora Pond in Netanya. It has not been included in the list of red species
because its identification in Israel is doubtful.

·        
The major threat factor is
water diversion from aquatic habitats.

·        
Only the populations in the
Bet tsayda Reserve remain stable. The other populations have
become extinct or have decreased significantly. The Dora Pond population is severely
threatened and may have become extinct due to nearby construction and changes
in the hydrological status of the site.

·        
Population fragmentation
corresponds to habitat fragmentation.

·        
Ammannia baccifera is apparently not globally
threatened. The plant has good invasive capabilities and has apparently reached
Europe and even Australia.

The Ammannia baccifera population at the Yehudiya-Meshushim
Lagoon should be protected and
monitored, while preventing overgrazing and habitat destruction by cattle. In
addition, A. baccifera should be reintroduced to the Hula, preferably at
the mouth of the Enan Stream, east of Highway 90, where there was once a dense
population.

Ammannia
baccifera
has a broad tropic and sub-tropic distribution across the Sudano-Decanian region, including India, North and
South America, Eastern and Central Africa, South Africa, China and Australia
(almost certainly naturalized). In our region, it grows in the warm parts of Egypt,
Arabia, Iran, Transcaucasia and Afghanistan.

Ammannia
bacciferais an aquatic plant characteristic of the
hydrophilic tropical plant group, who's of distribution edge is located in
Israel, thus its significance. The species is extinct in many locations on the
coastal plain and the Jordan River system, and good populations survived only in
the Bet
tsayda valley. A. baccifera is endangered due to the vulnerability of
its habitat and the fact that its locations are few.