Notes on multicoloured and red-only flowering populations of Anemone coronaria

Two types of large populations of Anemone coronaria are known in Israel: (i) populations composed of several flower colours, usually red, white, purple or pink and (ii) populations with red flowers only. Their geographical distribution is peculiar: In the temperate northern and central parts of Israel, there are large populations of multicoloured and red-only flowers that coexist sometimes in the same habitats and even adjacently. In the southern and xeric parts of Israel, red-only is the sole population type, as the red form has greater drought tolerance. Biological factors related to genetics, pollination or herbivory show no relation to the geographical distribution of the two population types in temperate northern Israel. Edaphic factors such as geological formations, soil types and soil metals concentrations were found to be partly related to the distribution of the two population types in northern Israel. Red flowers of A. coronaria are usually regarded as more drought-tolerant than the other colours, and red-only populations are considered to indicate regions with less rainfall or dry, chalky soils. However, large red-only populations also occur in more temperate parts of Israel in the vicinity of multicoloured populations. The edaphic, biological and other environmental factors controlling the distribution of red-only populations in temperate northern Israel are still not well-understood.