0000000000026248
AUTHOR
V. Spadaro
ALLERGENS IN THE PARK AND GARDEN FLORA OF SICILY
The ornamental flora of parks and gardens, as we know, generally includes high proportions of exotics. In Italy it arose from Renaissance on and increasingly enriched up to include a large proportion of exotics native to countries under Mediterranean and temperate climates. Similarly the garden flora of Sicily has a large number of mostly Mediterranean and subtropical exotics. Even if very similar on the whole, these floras differ in some floristic, biological and ecological features. Indeed, several succulent families and genera that are rare or missing in Italy are frequent in Sicily, but plants from temperate regions are almost absent in the island. As regards the allergenic patterns ref…
Disegni botanici di Angelina Damiani Lanza (1879 - 1936)
Botanical drawings of Angelina Damiani Lanza (1879 - 1936). The drawings of Sicilian plants made by Ange- lina Damiani are reported and commented. After a brief presentation of the author’s personality, the technique used in the drawings is examined, together with the relevant value from the artistic and botanical point of view. This material, mainly consisting of pencil drawings gathered in an album recently donated to the Director of the Palermo Botanical Garden, sin- ce 2006 is exhibited in the small historical museum set up in one of the halls of the monumental Gymnasium of the same Botanical Garden. Most of the drawings done by Angelina Damiani for the studies of her husband, the Sicil…
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE ESSENTIAL OILS OF SOME TAXA OF THE GENUS CLINOPODIUM (LAMIACEAE) FROM SICILY
The genus Clinopodium L. (Lamiaceae) is known for its medical uses in folk medicine and as a spice in Italian food. Recently, several taxa previously assigned to Satureja L. and Calamintha Mill. have been transferred to this genus (1). Pharmacological studies reveal, for instance, that Calamintha nepeta (L.) Savi [Clinopodium nepeta Kuntze subsp. nepeta], commonly known as “nepetella”, exhibits cholagogue, expectorant, sedative and antibiotic properties (2); furthermore, the essential oil of its aerial parts showed an antifungal activity (3). The apical flowering parts and leaves of Clinopodium vulgare L. are used in popular medicine for their carminative and emmenagogue properties (1); rec…
Plant landscape and phytodiversity in the archeological area of Segesta (NW Sicily)
In the system of Sicilian archaeological parks, the area of Segesta - an ancient city of western Sicily referring to the Carthaginian eparchy, - represents, together with Selinunte, Erice and Mothia, another integrated hotspot of biodiversity and archeaology. The current plant landscape is strongly influenced by a millenary anthropic transformation. There are no residual expressions of the original plant covering that, with reference to the environmental potential of the area, can be traced back to the evergreen Mediterranean forest dominated by Quercus ilex, presently only sporadically occurring in the area of the ruins, together with other species related to associations and upper syntaxa…
Diversità in Centaurea Sect. Dissectae (Asteraceae) della Sicilia
Centaurea dissecta Ten., sensu Fiori (1), comprende diverse entità in qualche caso anche critiche (4). Studi recenti sulle popolazioni dell’Italia meridionale e insulare hanno messo in luce una significativa variabilità genetica (2). Diversi taxa specifici sono stati descritti proprio in questi ultimi anni. In Sicilia, dove il gruppo era rappresentato solo da C. parlatoris Heldr. e da poche altre unità infraspecifiche, alcune popolazioni riferite a detta specie sono state proposte come nuove specie [C. giardinae Raimondo & Spadaro sull’Etna (6) e C. sicana Raimondo & Spadaro nei Monti Sicani (8)]. Varietà di C. parlatoris [var. tomentosa Guss. e var. virescens Guss. (5) ] sono state elevate…
Essential oil composition of Tanacetum vulgare subsp. siculum (Guss.) Raimondo et Spadaro (Asteraceae) from Sicily
Ninety-four components of the essential oils from aerial parts and capitula of Tanacetum vulgare subsp. siculum (Guss.) Raimondo et Spadaro were detected. alpha-Thujone, beta-thujone and 1,8-cineole were the main constituents of the oils. The analysis allows the assignment of this Tanacetum species to the thujone chemotype.