Jerusalem botanic garden reports breakthroughs in rescuing rare plants

The botanical garden at Givat Ram in Jerusalem and the KKL nursery in Eshtaol say they have recorded a series of major successes in conserving and propagating extremely rare and endangered plant species. Several plants that bloomed in recent months are now setting fruit and producing seeds, which are being collected as backup populations for wild plants under threat. The seeds are stored in cool, dry conditions, and some are transferred to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the national seed bank.

Among the standout cases is Trifolium tenuiflorum, a rare plant on the edge of threat, which bloomed in April and is now producing seed-filled pods. The garden also reports its first success in germinating and flowering Hyacinthella venusta, a very rare and vulnerable species known from Mount Hermon and Samaria. Staff said the seeds sprouted relatively easily and without special treatment, an important finding for species that are difficult to propagate outside their natural habitat.

Another milestone came with Aegilops galileensis, a very rare, endangered grass collected only a few times previously in Judea and Samaria. This is the first time it has been grown in nursery conditions. The plant matters not only for conservation, but also because it is a close wild relative of wheat and may carry traits for drought, salinity, and pest resistance that could help future agricultural research. The garden also found an unexpected spontaneous population of Allium white, an endangered mountain species of Israel, in an unfed area on the garden’s edge after several years of cultivation in pots and dedicated plots.

The garden said another first-time flowering was recorded for Sidonian rose, a rare wild rose of the Middle East that reaches the southern end of its range in Israel. These findings, staff said, reinforce the garden’s role as a refuge for rare wild plants, not just as a display and research site. Nursery manager Rotem Atiyas said, “The big meaning is not only that a rare plant blooms here, but that it completes its life cycle, produces seeds, and sometimes even establishes itself in the ground.” Dr. Uri Frugman-Spier, the garden’s scientific director and a coauthor of the Red Book on endangered plants, said the project has made major progress, adding, “Today we know how to propagate more than 500 different species!”