The only quillwort (Isoetes olympica A. Braun) in Syria is threatened with extirpation

Isoetes olympica A. Braun in Milne is known from only two sites: Bursa in Turkey and Jebel Druze, a chain of extinct volcanoes in Syria. The approximately 100 plants are the only quillworts in Syria; they face a very uncertain future. Because this plant grows in wetlands, it is threatened with immediate destruction by the unprecedented expansion of irrigated agriculture in this region. Before this resource is lost, data were collected on megaspores, microspores, leaf anatomy, chromosome number, and gene sequences.