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Small-leaved Chamomile
Anthemis parvifolia

4.7 Endangered

Update Time: Jan. 1, 2011, 7:39 a.m.

Anthemis parvifolia is an extremely
rare species in the country and is probably found today only in the Sharon in
the Hadera area near the Zeta Pond (last observation from 2010). In addition to
the Sharon, it had previously been collected once in the Jezreel Valley and the
Acre Valley (near Kfar Ata). In 2008
A. parvifolia
was recorded in the Jezreel Valley in the Rimon Stream (a tributary of the Kishon),
but because of the great difficulty in identifying the
Anthemis species, plants
from this area require additional examination. In the literature the species is
also noted from the Carmel Coast (Danin, 2004), but this data from the Carmel
Beach is from the Kvara Marshes, which in this book is included in the Sharon. All
the collections of
A. parvifolia in the
Jerusalem Herbarium from the Sharon are from the 1940s and end in 1971. It is
not clear if the
collections
ended as a result of the
eradication of most of the populations in the 1960s or due to the completion of
Ziva Yeivin's doctoral dissertation on the genus
Anthemis (Yeivin, 1971). It should be
noted that
A. parvifolia was not known in Israel when Eig
wrote his monograph on the genus
Anthemis (Eig, 1938) – which hints at the great
difficulty of finding the species already in the 1930s and at its rarity. Only
in the late 1960s did it become clear that the species grows in Israel in the
Hadera and Kfar Ata area. The species is extremely difficult to identify.


Partially flooded heavy soils.

·        
The number of
sites from where
Anthemis parvifolia is known since
its discovery in Israel was always small, and during the last few decades, a severe
decline in its numbers has been clearly evident. It survived with certainty
only in one region – the Sharon.

·        
The main reason
for its decline is probably habitat destruction, as happened to other seasonally
flooded heavy soil plants on the coastal plain and the Galilee valleys.

·        
The only site
east of Hadera is not located in a declared nature reserve.

·        
A. parvifolia
is found elsewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin, but there is no
information available on its threat and conservation status.

Surveys should be conducted in areas with heavy soils in
an attempt to find
Anthemis parvifolia populations and
update the information regarding the species. Populations around the Zeta Pond
area should be monitored and verify its existence in the Ta’anah Region in the Jezreel
Valley. The flowering season of
A. parvifolia is
unusual compared with other Anthemis species in Israel and therefore it
is possible that it has not been located at some of its sites.

Anthemis parvifolia is found in southern
Turkey, Cyprus, Rhodes, Lebanon (Tripoli), as well as at one site in southern
France (although it is not cited in the Flora of Europe as growing in France).
This is a very rare species in Israel and in the world, which has only been
collected infrequently and therefore its identity is unclear.

Anthemis parvifolia is an extremely rare annual plant of flooded heavy soils
that has survived with certainty at only two sites. Its habitat is extremely
vulnerable, which is why it is extinct in several sites where it once grew.  

ייבין זיוה, 1971, אבולוציה וטקסונומיה בסוג קחוון, משפחת המורכבים. האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים (עבודת דוקטורט).

name of participantsBased on: "The Red Book of Israeli Plants - Threatened Plants in Israel" by Prof. Avi Shmida, Dr. Gadi Pollack and Dr. Ori Fragman-Sapir

Current Occupancy Map

Current occupancy map for observations per pixel
1000 squre meter pixel 5000 squre meter pixel 10000 squre meter pixel
number of observations 0 0 0
in total pixels 0 0 0

FamilyAsteraceae
ClassificationOn the endangered species list
EcosystemMediterranean
ChorotypeEastern Mediterranean
Conservation SiteZeta Pond Region

Rarity
1
4
6
Vulnerability
0
4
4
Attractiveness
0
0
4
Endemism
0
0
4
Red number
1
4.7
10
Peripherality N
IUCN category DD EW EX LC CR EN VU NT
Threat Definition according to the red book Endangered
1 (3) districts
Disjunctiveness: 0
33.3% of protected sites

Other Species

Anthemis philistea
Anthemis amblyolepis
Anthemis brachycarpa
Chian Chamomile, Cut-leaved Chamomile