Negev Alkanet

Hormuzakia negevensis

Avinoam Danin discovered Anchusa negevensis (and described it as a new species to science) in the early 1990s, at
a single site at the edge of the Yamin Plain, in the northern Negev. Despite
numerous search efforts the species was not found in any other sites in the
area.

Moderate
slopes of worn sandstone, subject to a regime of strong winds together with Calligonum
comosum, Anabasis articulata and Haloxylon salicornicum.

For the genus
Anchusa – see Anchusa
ovata. The mericarps of A. negevensis are surprisingly
similar to those of A. aggregata. Both species  have helmet shaped mericarps, but A. aggregata is an annual  plant with smaller flowers hidden in the
center of leaves plant’s rosette or in the leaf axils, whereas  A. negevensis is a perennial  plant with large flowers arranged at the ends
of stems. A. aggregata was described in 1923 as Hormuzakia aggregata
and was later included in the genus Anchusa. Recently the two species
have been transferred again to the genus Hormuzakia.

Anchusa
negevensis is a species endemic to Israel that grows in only one
region at a single site at the edge of Yamin
Plain in the Negev, in a unique habitat of desert sandstone, hence the great
importance of its preservation. The population size is estimated at about 200.
The threat to the populations may come from incidental earthworks that can
destroy an entire population. A. negevensis is not protected in a declared
nature reserve. 

Precise surveys should be conducted in the Yamin-Rotem plains in order to locate additional
populations. The Yamin Plain area, in which the A. negevensis population grows, should be marked, fenced and
signposted.

Anchusa negevensis is endemic to
Israel. Only one population of the plant has been found so far in the Yamin Plain
sands.

Anchusa
negevensis is a perennial
herb of the inner desert sands in the Negev, which grows on a single site in
the in Yamin Plain. It is endemic to Israel. Its small population size and the
restricted area which it occupies expose it to a real threat of extinction.

Danin, A. 1995. A new Anchusa from Israel. Edinb. J. Bot. 52: 333-336.