PLANT LANDSCAPE OF RAS DIMAS PENINSULA (GOVERNATORATE OF MONASTIR, CENTRAL COASTAL TUNISIA)

The Ras Dimas lagoon lies along the coast of Central Tunisia (35°37'45.84"N, 11° 2'44.61"E), in the region of Sahel, about 20 km linear distance to the south from Monastir and about 160 km from Tunisi. The lagoon is made up by a sandy peninsula with white sands rich in limestone with fine granulometry, about 3 km long, up to 200 m wide and up to 2 m high, that contains about 120 hectares of sea. Previously this peninsula was regularly isolated from the continent forming the island of Edzira, in the last years, sea storms and the different streams course, likely caused by the restructuring of the Port of Bekalta, has given the actual configuration of a peninsula. In April 2013, as part of th…

Diachronic Analysis of Beech Forest in the Nebrodi Park (Northern Sicily)

A comparison between the current surface of Beech forest in the Nebrodi Park (Northern Sicily) with the measurements performed in the past is here reported. 12.854 hectares of Beech forest were recognized against 10.336 hectares of 1959 with a percentage increase of 24.37%. The increase of forest is mainly due at the change of land use through a better forest management and grazing.

Study of the alien flora of the urban area of Palermo (Sicily)

Alien plants are an integral part of the Mediterranean agricultural and urban landscape. Taking into account that man is an active voluntary or involuntary carrier of plant diasporas, cities and areas where human activity is predominant represent preferential targets for the study of new plant introductions. In addition, some species as Pennisetum setaceum (Forssk.) Chiov. and Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill., initially exclusive to high disturbed habitats, succeeded in penetrating in cliffs, degraded maquis and garrigues characterizing them. Thus the importance of studying these areas to predict future colonization of more natural habitats. Starting from literature and integrating it with f…

LE PALME COLPITE DA RHYNCHOPHORUS FERRUGINEUS (OLIVIER) IN SICILIA

ANALISI DIACRONICA DEI FAGGETI DEL PARCO DEI NEBRODI IN SICILIA

Taxonomic remarks and distribution of Smyrnium dimartinoi (Apiaceae)

Smyrnium L., an Eurasian genus of the family Apiaceae, includes about 20 taxa of which only 7 are accepted at specific rank; among these, 5 are native to Europe (Tutin & al. 1968; Gomez 2003). In the Italian flora, the genus is represented by 3 taxa also occurring in Sicily (Pignatti 1982; Giardina & al. 2007); these are Smyrnium olusatrum L., S. perfoliatum L. and S. rotundifolium Mill. The last one has also been treated at the rank of subspecies under S. perfoliatum [S. perfoliatum subsp. rotundifolium (Mill.) Hartvig] (Strid 1986; Conti & al. 2005), or as a variety [S. perfoliatum var. rotundifolium (Mill.)Fiori (Fiori 1925)]. In Sicily, same populations related to S. perfoli…

SOCIETA' E SALUTE IN UNA COMUNITA' SICILIANA DEL XIX SECOLO: LE PIANTE MEDICINALI.

Nel 1869, si pubblicò a Palermo il primo volume della “Gazzetta Medica Siciliana” come organo della Reggia Accademica di Scienze della Sicilia. Il volume di cui apparve alla stampa solo la prima annata, conteneva un lavoro del naturalista Francesco Minà Palombo, classificato dai suoi biografi come articolo di carattere medico. In effetti l’articolo è di notevole interesse sociale perché fotografa le condizioni della popolazione castelbuonese in quell’anno (1869). Descrive dopo una dettagliata introduzione sull’ambiente le condizioni degli abitanti iniziando dalle condizioni economiche e dalle principali attività attinenti all’agricoltura e pastorizia nonché all’artigianato. Quindi, passa al…