Abstract
In this paper a phytosociological study on the dry grasslands of the Cornicolani mountains is presented. The Cornicolani are a group of isolated limestone
hills which emerge from the slightly ondulating grounds of the Rome countryside in the Tyrrhenian side of the central Italy. Eighty-nine relevés
were performed using the Braun-Blanquet phytosociological approach. These were further subjected to hierarchical classification and to NMDS
ordination. Five major types of grasslands were distinguished: short therophytic grasslands developed on shallow soils dominated, in turns, by Hypochaeris
achyrophorus, Plantago lagopus and Plantago bellardii; sub-nitrophilous detriticolous perennial grasslands dominated by Dittrichia viscosa
and Helichrysum italicum; Dasypyrum villosum and Vulpia ligustica lawn and fallow annual tall-grasslands; Ampelodesmos mauritanicus grasslands
of the rocky S-facing slopes and sub-mesophilous Lolium perenne and Cynodon dactylon grasslands of the flat and pastured areas. From a syntaxonomical
standpoint a new associations named Plantaginetum afrae-bellardii was proposed and included in the class Stipo-Trachynetea. In addition the
association Helichryso italici-Inuletum viscosae Trinajstić 1965 (nom. inval.) was here validated
