Ipotesi progettuale per un giardino pubblico “australiano” ai Danisinni, nella città di Palermo

It is presented a project aimed at achieving a public garden theme “Australia” to Danisinni, in Palermo. The idea is based mainly on the consideration that the image of Palermo, resulting from the urban climate and flora in its main public spaces and within private gardens; on the view that in Palermo has a garden to English G. B. F. Basile, the first and last example of a public garden designed as such from its inception; last but not least, the propulsive action of the Botanical garden, behind the idea of conceiving an urban design, structured by a system of theme parks, in order to affirm the cosmopolitan character of Palermo. The project of urban Danisinni depression shows an area, covering 12 hectares, which grows around the historic township of the same name that has always been characterized by a marked condition of marginality, combined with urban and social decay. The “Australian”, which symbolizes the species, more than any other in the city, became in time an emblem of urban beauty of he Sicilian capital

Principi di spontaneizzazione di Diospyros kaki (Ebenaceae) in Sicilia

A spontaneous group of plants of Diospyros kaki is reported in a rural area near Menfi, in the province of Agrigento. This is the first record of naturalization of this Asian species – after long time cultivated in various countries of the Mediterranean Basin - observed in Italy

Piante e loro anomalie vegetative: schede documentarie. 27-39

The section dedicated to plant vegetative anomalies affecting vas- cular plants has started in the last issue of this journal, (Raimondo & Schicchi, 2010). In that first contribution 26 reports, by Spadaro & al. (2010) and by Cristaudo & al.(2010) respectively, were presented. The first 11 of them concern Anthemis secundiramea, Araucaria heterophylla, Cakile maritima, Conyza bonariensis, Euphorbia linifolia, Laurus nobilis, Ocimum basilicum, Orobanche lavandulacea, Osyris alba, Scrophularia canina subsp. Bicolour, and Ulmus sp.; The other15 reports concern Carlina gummifera, Echium plantagineum, Euphorbia dendroides, E. linifolia, E. myrsinites, Jasminum sambac, Pararchidendron pruinosum, Pereskia grandiflora, Prunus dulcis, Rumex bucephalophorus subsp. bucephalophorus, Spar- tium junceum, Opuntia ficus-indica, Phytolacca dioica, Verbascum Thapsus, and Vitis vinifera. The idea of editors to stimu- late observations on plant vegetative anomalies has been followed and several other cases have been now submitted for publication. In this second contribution 13 reports are presented: the first 11, by R.E. Spallino & M. Tessitori, concern veg- etative anomalies observed on Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., Convolvulus arvensis, Vitis vinifera cv. Chardonnay, Erigeron bonariensis, Echium plantagineum, E. vulgare, Genista aetnensis, Chenopodium album, Spartium junceum, Brassica rapa subsp. rapa and Picris echioides; the last 2, by G. Licandro & M.R. Cucco, refer to Aphodelus fistulosus and Hyoseris ra- diata. All reports concern cases observed in Sicily and refer both spontaneous and cultivated plants

Schede per la flora ornamentale siciliana. 61-67

With the aim to improve the knowledge of the ornamental flora of Sicily, a series of reports on the most rare and significant species found in the historic or public gardens and parks has been started since 2001. The plants taken in consideration are examined as far as taxonomy, geographical origin, biology, ecology are concerned, also taking into account their condition in Sicily with respect to introduction, sanitary status, occurrence, etc... Furthermore, germplasm conservation is, when possible, provided in the Botanical Garden of Palermo. Each taxon is treated in a single report. Here the reports 61-67, by F. Argento, M.R. Cucco, E. Di Gristina & R. Oliveri, are presented. These concern Araucaria bidwillii Hook., Araucaria cunninghamii Sweet, Cordia myxa L., Decaisnea fargesii Franch., Ficus benjamina L., Ficus elastica var. decora Guillaumin e Kleinia neriifolia Haw

A new species of Smyrnium (Apiaceae) related to S. perfoliatum

On the basis of plant collections recently carried out in Sicily as well as the study of the herbarium material kept in PAL and PAL-Gr, a new species of Smyrnium (Apiaceae) is described here. This new taxon, named Smyrnium dimartinoi, is related to S. perfoliatum and is presently known from Sicily, Crete and realistically elsewhere in the Mediterranean. In such range it occurs in open woods and clearings of the Mediterranean-temperate and submontane belt

Genetic variation patterns in some groups of Centaurea (Asteraceae) in Italy

In the current work the data of the isozyme analysis of all the twenty studied Italian Centaurea taxa were compared. They belong to Centaurea parlatoris, C. cineraria, C. tenorei and C. jacea groups. The following parameters of the genetic variability were considered: the total number of the alleles, the mean number of alleles per locus (A), the mean percentage of polymorphic loci (P95), the expected heterozygosity (He) that is a measure of the intra-population diversity, the Wright’s fixation index (F) and inbreeding coefficient (FIS) that are measures for the deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The present study contributes to insight some aspects of the genetic diversity related to the distribution range (endemics or widespread taxa) of the studied Centaurea species. The mean proportion of polymorphic loci and the mean number of alleles per locus (A) in the endemic species are comparable with the widespread ones, while the intra-population diversity (He) results about 40% higher in the populations of the widespread taxa than the endemics. The loci with a major role for the processes of differentiation and evolution of the genus Centaurea in South Italy and Sicily are: Mdh-1, Pgi-2 and Idh-1. Italian Centaurea species with the highest genetic diversity usually inhabit extreme habitats (rocky, sandy places, etc.) and localities with significant human impact or the borderline of their area of distribution. Sicily could be considered a centre of differentiation of the endemic groups of C. cineraria and C. parlatoris which show relatively high intra-population variability

A new species of Anthemis sect. Hiorthia (Asteraceae) from SE Sicily

A new species of Anthemis sect. Hiorthia (Asteraceae) is described from Sicily. This taxon, named A. pignattiorum, is confined to a restricted area of the Hyblaean territory (SE Sicily), in the Natural Reserve of Cava Grande (Cassibile, Siracuse), where it takes shelter on carbonate rocky habitat and participates, with other Sicilian endemic taxa, to the composition of a termophilous chasmophytic community (Putorio calabricae–Micromerietum microphyllae)

Implementation of an online information system for the “Flora Critica d’Italia”

Since the early 2000s, within the Italian Botanical Society was discussed the opportunity to realize collaboratively a modern Flora articulated in monographs on the model of others under construction or recently completed in several European countries (1). This initiative had a milestone in 2007 with the institution of the “Fondazione per la Flora Italiana”, with the aim of supporting the activities of study, conservation and cultural and scientific enhancement of the flora of Italy and of sensitizing the national community about the many functions that it implements, in the context of natural and semi-natural ecosystems. The “Foundation for the Italian flora” is responsible for the publication of the "Flora critica d’Italia". During the course of the project, it became apparent the diminishing impact of the hard copy in favour of an online information system more flexible and upgradeable and thus more suited to the current needs of the research but also in all fields of everyday life. Last 25th February the first 3 contributions, concerning the families of Isoetaceae, Heliotropiaceae and Hydrophyllaceae (2, 3, 4) have been published online (http://www.floraditalia.it/index.php? page=flora_critica). These early contributions were prepared in the traditional way with a text editor. In order to create the online information system, under the indications of the Editorial Committee, the Board of Directors decided to rely on the experience gained by the staff of Palermo in the field of biological databases (5, 6) and to support by itself the development of a specific software. It is currently under construction and implementation a relational database that serves as a base for the entire project. It include information related to nomenclature, taxonomy, description, keys, distribution, images, karyology, uses, vernacular names, etc. Data and tables are standardized according to TDWG (Taxonomic Database Working Group) standards (http://www.tdwg.org) and comply with the The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data architecture. The system is composed by two main parts: a database and a web application. The database currently contains 16 relations (although more will be built within the end of the project) and relies onto MySQL Database Management System. The web application is built using PHP scripting language and the CakePHP framework for the server-side part, running on a Linux server. The client-side part leverages onto Javascript and Jquery library. It follows the MVC1 (Model View Controller) design paradigm. It deals with the database manipulation in terms of data management and data presentation along with user management. The whole system addresses several main security issues such as passwords hashing, accesses logging and code injection protections. Data inputting is online by a web browser. The authors will input data in user friendly forms or to import tables. Outputs produced include online ones coming from queries and pdf production to be done periodically to fix what done or to prepare chapters of the volumes to be eventually printed and included in a hard copy volume