Campion sp.

Silene physalodes

Silene physalodes grows on two
sites on Mount Hermon – upper Wadi Si'on (Shmida, 1982) and in Wadi Ar'ar below
Mount Kahal (Y. Lev-Ari, 1985). In the Flora Palaestina the species is also noted
from the Upper Galilee and the Hula Valley, but no confirmation was found in
the herbarium or in additional literature. The reference to its presence in these
regions is probably due to the inclusion of the lower Hermon in the area of the
Galilee panhandle.

The Hermon sites
are located slightly beyond the lower Hermon region, and are included here
because of its great rarity and its endemism.

On the edges of Quercus calliprinos and Q. boissieri
woodland at an altitude of 1200-1300 meters.

Silene
physalodes belongs to the Inflatae section in the genus Silene.
There is only one species in this section in Israel – S. vulgaris. This is a similar plant, found in
the Mediterranean region that has characteristic petals that are divided into only
two rounded lobes.

Silene physalodes is known from only two
sites near the lower Mount Hermon and there is no clear information regarding additional
sites in the country in the past. The site where S. physalodes grows is located in the Hermon Nature Reserve. Its global
distribution is limited to Israel and Lebanon (and possibly to Syria and
Jordan). There is no verified data on the number of sites in adjacent
countries, but the local threat status is probably equivalent to the global status.

The Hermon should
be surveyed to find additional population, as S. physalodes is not
sufficiently known and was collected only a few times.

Endemic to the lower Hermon.

Silene physalodes is an annual
plant found at the foot of Mount Hermon, where it grows on only two sites. It
is apparently endemic to Israel and Lebanon. Because of its great rarity and
its endemism, it was included among Israel's red species, although its sites
deviate slightly from Israel's borders.