Lasiospermum brachyglossum

Lasiospermum brachyglossum grows on a
single site in a single region – the Arava, where Dudi Rivner and Mori Chen found it as a new species for Israel in 2006,
near the Jordanian border crossing.

Wadis and stony
areas in the desert.

The genus Lasiospermum consists of
four species, all South African, and only L. brachyglossum grows
in our region as well.  L. brachyglossum was previously divided into two varieties: the
typical variety growing in the southern part of the African continent and the
Sinai variety – from our region. Boulos wrote in the Flora of Egypt that he compared
the plants of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and southern Africa and found them to be identical;
therefore he does not accept the division of the species into two varieties.

Lasiospermum
brachyglossum that grows on only a single site in Israel was only
found in recent years, so at this stage no discussion regarding its
conservation is possible. More knowledge is needed about the frequency of its appearance,
population sizes and phenological and natural history parameters. L. brachyglossum
does not appear in the endangered species list of Egypt.

Detailed surveys should be conducted in the Arava to
look for additional Lasiospermum brachyglossum populations.
The population at the one known site should be subject to long-term monitoring
of its population size, phenology and reproductive indices.

Lasiospermum
brachyglossum has an interesting disjunct distribution: in our region
it grows in Saudi Arabia, Egypt (Sinai), southern Jordan (Edom) and southern
Israel and thousands of miles away it is found in Namibia, in the southern
African continent.

Lasiospermum
brachyglossum is a small annual species only recently discovered
in the Elat region. The disjunction between southern Israel and the desert
countries surrounding it and the species range in the southern African
continent affords biogeographical importance to its presence in Israel.