| Triticum dicoccoides
in Israel : Notes on its distribution, ecology and natural hybridization D. ZOHARY and Z. BRICK Dept. of Botany, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Jsrael That Triticum dicoccoides is distributed over large stretches of the hilly country of Israel's Eastern Galilee and also occurs in smaller areas in Samaria and Judaea is already apparent from the classical finds of A. Aaronson. The present report aims at supplying some additional information on several ecological aspects of T. dicoccoides in Israel, as well as on its relationships in nature with T. durum. The territory of wild emmer in the Galilee is wider than was reported by Aaronson; it comprises almost the entire area east of a line drawn from the Lebanese border east of Kefar Giladi through Mt. Jermaq near Safad to Mt. Tabor and Afula. The main altitudes at which T. dicoccoides occurs in Israel range from sea level to 600 m, (in the zone where annual rainfall is from 350 to 800 mm). At higher altitudes stands of T. dicoccoides are rare ; the most elevated stations so far found are on the eastern slopes of Mt. Jermaq and on Mt. Kenaan, both at an altitude of approximately 800 m. Below sea level it is again rare and occurs only sparsely on the lower (and drier) parts of the slopes facing the Jordan rift valley-usually on north-facing or otherwise favourable sites. The main habitat occupied by T. dicoccoides in Israel is the submediterranean or semi-steppe herbaceous shrub formation. This vegetation type which is characterized by many hemicryptophytic shrub elements and by a rich winter cover of annuals predominates on the basaltic plateaux and hard limestone hills of the Eastern Galilee. Smaller areas of such a herbaceous vegetation are also met with in Samaria. It is in such an open landscape that T. dicoccoides is really abundant and continuous in spread, constituting many times-together with Avena sterilis and Hordeum spontaneum-the main annual grass component of the lush harbaceous cover. It is also here that a wealth of the wild emmer varieties (of the syrio-palaestirdcum group) can be met with. In contrast to the open semi-steppe vegetation, the truly mediterranean vegetation (i.e. mediterranean " batha " and " garigue ") contains only small and rather sporadic populations of T. dicoccoides. Moreover, in the latter wild emmer is restricted to edges of cultivation and other sites where the permanent cover of shrubs has been recently cleared by man. Obviously such localities can hardly be regarded as primary or stable habitats of wild emmer. |
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