Osservazioni sulle strategie riproduttive dei taxa appartenenti al gruppo di Limonium articulatum (Plumbaginaceae)

Limonium articulatum (Plumbaginaceae) e le specie affini costituiscono un gruppo tassonomico riconosciuto da diversi autori che si rinviene lungo le coste della Corsica, Sardegna e dell’Arcipelago Toscano. In concomitanza con indagini morfometriche, sono state condotte osservazioni sulla biologia riproduttiva di queste specie su materiale d’erbario. Nelle specie a più ampia distribuzione, L. articulatum e L. contortirameum, si sono osservate solo combinazioni autoincompatibili. Lo stesso in L. caprarie, L. corsicum, L. strictissimum e L. tarcoense. In L. coralliforme, L. dolcheri, L. florentinum, L. tibulatium e L. ursanum sono state osservate combinazioni autofertili. Non si sono verificati casi di combinazioni autofertili e combinazioni auto-incompatibili nello stesso taxon

The discovery of plant biodiversity by children through the animated movies: Alice in Wonderland

The discovery of biodiversity in childs occurs through various channels: either through direct contact with the outside world, and indirectly through paintings, games and the media. Since 1937, Walt Disney Animation Studios realized animated movies inspired from novels. The first feature film was \u201cSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs\u201d. Since this, Disney\u2019s studios realized more than 10 dozen movies. The feature that distinguishes these works from a technical point of view is the attention to detail especially for the scene where the action takes place. Animals are often the protagonists of these stories, rarely plants. A good example of the latter is in \u201cAlice in wonderland\u201d, a movie distributed in 1951 that tells the story of the discovery by Alice of an unmusical, fantasy-filled world beyond her imagination populated by odd human and plant and animal characters. The plot of this film is taken from \u201cAlice's Adventures in Wonderland\u201d, an 1865 novel written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll with several inclusions of the sequel \u201cThrough the Looking-Glass\u201d another novel by the same Lewis Carroll, published in 1871. Both are novels full of symbolism, mathematical allusions and satire and contain the customs of England in the Victorian Age. Alice, in the real and in in her imaginary world, moves within scenarios in which plants are the main background. But it happens in the scene in which Alice is in the flower garden that flowers come alive and become characters of the story. This scene is inspired by the second chapter of the \u201cThrough the Looking- Glass\u201d titled \u201cThe garden of live flowers\u201d. In the novel, Alice comes up a hill along a winding path, that houses a flower garden populated by daisies, a weeping willow, a lily, a rose, a larkspur and a violet. The real work of exaltation of plant biodiversity is made in the film by Walt Disney where in a scene of about 5 minutes more than 20 flowers are presented. In the scene are clearly identifiable: Bellis perennis, Cestrum elegans, Chrysanthemum indicum, Convallaria majalis, Cyclamen persicum, Delphinium sp., Hyancinthoides non-scripta, Ipomoea violacea, Iris germanica, Leucanthemum 7superbum, Leucanthemum vulgare, Lilium candidum, L. davidii, Narcissus incomparabilis, N. pseudonarcissus, Nelumbo nucifera, Ranunculus asiaticus, Rosa indica, Salix babylonica, Syringa vulgaris, Taraxacum sect. Taraxacum, Viola odorata, V. 7wittrockiana and Zinnia sp. It is a real triumph of sounds and colours that leave the spectator delighted. The theme of the plants between knowledge and representation has been the subject of international meetings and scientific contributions. Studies about the representation of plants in pre-Christian (1), during the Middle Ages and in European art of the XIV - XVII have been done (2). In our case the plants drawn in Alice in Wonderland seems to belong more to the plants cultivated in the Americans gardens of during 1950\u2019s, when the film was made, rather than to the English gardens of the Victorian era where the novel is set. Nevertheless these drawings approach children, and the adults accompanying them in the vision, to the biodiversity of flowering plants cultivated. Offering to the spectator a wide representation of plants commonly grown with their shape and colours. Certainly, "Alice in wonderland" is a good example of how even cartoons, such as fairy tales, can play an educational role, as they allow the child to learn while having fun. In particular, this cartoon can be a good teaching tool for knowledge of plant biodiversity. In fact, it can provide many ideas for developing a number of educational activities to be proposed in both the kindergarten and in the primary school, intended to make understand even the youngest children the meaning and the value of plant biodiversity, as well as to know some plants and their growth environments. Therefore, it would be desirable in the future to take into account such aspects, uncommon in animated films for children. In consideration of the now urgent need to fill several gaps of knowledge, widespread in the younger generation (3) in respect of the plants and the environment in general

Su alcune piante nuove delle Isole Pelagie

On some new plants to Pelagic islands (Straits of Sicily) \u2013 Fifteen vascular plants belonging to the families Aizoaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Myoporaceae, Orobanchaceae, Oxalidaceae, Portulacaceae and Solanaceae are reported as new to one or both the major Pelagic islands. With the exception of Narcissus serotinus and Orobanche minor, they are non-native plants, probably of recent human introduction, mostly in areas heavily modified by man. Myoporum insulare, widely used for reforestation and for ornament, occurs also in sub and semi-natural environments

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 field observations we prepared a list of alien species occurring in the urban area of Palermo. This list includes a categorization of the non native species occurring in the city according to their origin, their behaviour and the habitat where these plants were recorded. The starting points were the contributions about the flora of Sicily (1, 2, 3), the alien flora of Italy (4) and the flora living on trees of the city of Palermo (5). Literature sources were followed by intense field work from September 2013 to May 2016, that allowed to include new species that only recently showed their tendency to naturalization and to exclude species reported more than 100 years ago that have not be found anymore or taxa occurring in different parts of Sicily but not in the perimeter that defines the study area. About the categories, relevant literature gives different categorization depending on whether the point of view adopted is anthropocentric, biological, ecological or biogeographic. Here we adopted the categories suggested by Raimondo & al. (1) dividing the studied taxa in Adventive or Cultivated depending on whether the introduction was accidental or voluntary, and subdividing them further in casual, naturalized and invasive depending on whether their permanence and development into the new territory. On the whole, 145 specific and infraspecific taxa have been recorded. Neophytes are 133: 43 adventive and 90 coming from cultivation; 42 are casual, 94 naturalized and 9 invasive. Archaeophytes (cfr. 6, 7) are 12: 6 casual, 5 naturalized and 1 invasive. This study allowed to record recent changes in the alien flora of the city. These are mainly due to: - the popularity of the plants that are grown for ornament (e.g. Nephrolepis cordifolia (L.) K. Presl widely cultivated until 30 years ago now its cultivation is almost entirely disappeared inside the city); - the variation of construction techniques and materials with the rarefaction of roof tiles and rough walls in limestone in favour of more modern covers that do not allow the establishment of plants (comporting an evident reduction of Crassulaceae observable on the roofs); - the arrival of new pollinators that allowed the production of fertile fruits e.g. in Ficus microcarpa L. and F. watkinsiana F. M. Bailey. An example of the spreading of new taxa is Sesamum indicum L., reported as only cultivated plant without tendency to naturalize (8) in the last year, several individuals inside the city of Palermo have been recorded in ruderal habitat. This could have been due to the presence of an increasing number of not Italian of birth citizens who grow this plant for food purposes

Invasive cryptococcal disease in COVID-19: systematic review of the literature and analysis

During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, an increasing number of fungal infections associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection have been reported. Among them, cryptococcosis could be a lifethreatening disease. We performed a Systematic Review (PRISMA Statement) of cryptococcosis and COVID-19 co-infection, case report/series were included: a total of 34 cases were found, then we added our case report. We collected patients’ data and performed a statistical analysis comparing two groups of patients sorted by outcome: “dead” and “alive”. Three cases were excluded for lack of information. To compare categorical data, we used a Fisher-exact test (a=0.05). To compare quantitative variables a U Mann-Whitney test was used (a=0.05), with a 95% Confidence Interval. A total of 32 co-infected patients were included in the statistical analysis. Mortality rate was 17/32 (53.1%): these patients were included in “dead” group, and 15/32 (46.9%) patients survived and were included in “alive” group. Overall, males were 25/32 (78.1%), the median age was 60 years (IQR 53-70) with non-statistically significant difference between groups (p=0.149 and p=0.911, respectively). Three variables were associated with mortality: ARDS, ICU admission and inadequate treatment. Overall, 21 out of 24 (87.5%) patients were in ARDS with a statistically significant difference among two groups (p=0.028). ICU admission for COVID-19 was observed in 18/26 (69.2%), more frequently among dead group (p=0.034). Finally, 15/32 (46.9%) patients had adequate treatment (amphotericin B + flucytosine for invasive cryptococcosis) mostly among alive patients (p=0.039). In conclusion, mortality due to cryptococcal infection among COVID-19 patients remains high but an early diagnosis and appropriate treatment could reduce mortality

Mediterranean plant germination reports – 5

This is the fifth issue of the series of germination reports from Mediterranean areas (sensu Med-Checklist). It comprises germination protocols for 18 taxa: Hieracium and Pilosella from South Italy by Di Gristina & al. (Nos. 103-106); Genista from Sardinia by Deplano & al. (No. 107); Antirrhinum, Anthyllis, Digitalis, Echium, Jasione, Nothoscordum, Silene and Verbascum by Martínez-Oliver & al. (Nos. 108-116); Dianthus, Helichrysum and Silene from Sicily by Scafidi & Salmeri (Nos. 117-120)

Notulae to the Italian native vascular flora: 2

In this contribution new data concerning the Italian distribution of native vascular flora are presented. It includes new records, exclusions, and confirmations to the Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Arctostaphylos, Artemisia, Buglossoides, Convolvulus, Crocus, Damasonium, Epipogium, Ficaria, Filago, Genista, Heptaptera, Heracleum, Heteropogon, Hieracium, Myosotis, Ononis, Papaver, Pilosella, Polygonum, Pulmonaria, Scorzonera, Silene, Trifolium, Vicia and Viola

The Grosmarin experiment

The GROSMARIN (which stands for GrandROSMARIN) cruise is proposed by UMR Géosciences Azur (with fellow french and italian research groups). Its goals are to better characterize active structures along this zone and to assess the resulting seismic hazard in a sort of continuation with respect to the MALISAR experiment, which has already surveyed some active structures through shallow observations. The GROSMARIN cruise is in fact the necessary counterpart to characterize them at depth