Damasonium alisma

Botanical Description

Damasonium alisma is an annual to perennial plant with a corm-like compact stem up to 20mm long and a basal rosette of leaves; it can grow up to 30cm tall[ 74 Title Flora of the USSR. Publication Author Komarov. V. L. Website http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org Publisher Israel Program for Scientific Translation Year 1968 ISBN - Description An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet. ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food. Damasonium alisma has a restricted range combined with severely fragmented populations. The plant is declining over its entire range due to a combination of direct loss of habitat, decline in grazing leading to succession and increased competition, changes in land-use and stabilisation of water levels. These factors lead to a disruption of the metapopulation function and cause the populations to become fragmented. There is no evidence that the factors causing this decline are decreasing and there is evidence that the decline is now affecting core populations. It is suspected that the species might even qualify for the Endangered category as 50% of its population and range has been lost. The plant is classified as 'Vulnerable' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2015)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].