Aloë arborescens, A. brachystachys and A. maculata (Asphodelaceae) are reported for the first time as casual aliens in Sicily. A. brachystachys is new also for the alien flora of Italy

Pavone P.

Raimondo F. M.

Spadaro V.

English

Archivio istituzionale della ricerca - Università di Palermo

P. Pavone, F. M. Raimondo & V. SpadaroNew Aloes casual aliens in SicilyAbstractPavone, P., Raimondo, F. M. & Spadaro, V.: New Aloes casual aliens in Sicily. — Fl. Medit. 31(Special Issue): 489-493. 2022. — ISSN: 1120-4052 printed, 2240-4538 online.Aloë arborescens, A. brachystachys and A. maculata (Asphodelaceae) are reported for the firsttime as casual aliens in Sicily. A. brachystachys is new also for the alien flora of Italy.Key words: alien plants, succulents, Italian flora, Sicily.IntroductionAloë L. is a genus of the Asphodelaceae family (Liliaceae p.p.) represented by a veryrich number of infraspecific species and taxa (Carter & al. 2011). Among them, thereare many species introduced and cultivated in various regions of the world and then inpart naturalized.According to Galasso & al. (2018), the following nine taxa belong to the Italian alienflora: Aloë arborescens Mill., A. humilis (L.) Mill., A. maculata All., A. perfoliata L., A.reynoldsii Letty, A. striata Haw. subsp. striata, A. striatula Haw., A. vera (L.) Burm.f., andA. ×caesia Salm-Dyck. For Sicily are reported only A. ×caesia and A. vera, both natural-ized (P A NAT). Recent explorations, in particular in western Sicily, have allowed the dis-covery in the spontaneous state of some of the above reported taxa hitherto unpublishedfor the alien flora of Sicily. These are A. arborescens and A. maculata. In addition A.brachystachys Baker was also found, a species that is still unknown to date due to the alienflora of Italy.Review of the recordsAloë arborescens L. (Fig. 1).Plant widely cultivated in all the coastal Italian regions, both in gardens and inflower beds and terraces - in the ground and in pots - it is indicated as naturalized inmany Italian regions with the exception of Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige(Galasso & al. 2018). It has recently been reported as naturalized in Puglia (Oliveri                                                                                                                                                Fl. Medit. 31 (Special Issue): 489-493https://doi.org/10.7320/FlMedit31SI.489Version of Record published online on 1 January 2022in Galasso & al. 2019). It is a winter flowering plant (Carter & al. 2011) of which sev-eral varieties are grown in Italy. Spontaneous populations of A. arborescens are alsofound in Sicily where they have been recorded in Taormina, Capo d’Orlando, Cefalù,Palermo, Scopello, Valderice and S. Vito Lo Capo (Trapani). In these localities thespecies occurs on rocky substrates, slopes and uncultivated areas, therefore also insemi-natural environments. However, these localities are close to residential centersdistributed along the coast, or plants that have escaped from cultivation sites or fromlandfills located on the outskirts of inhabited centers. 490                                                               Pavone & al.: New Aloes casual alien in Sicilya bFig. 1. Aloë arborescens in Taormina, Messina.Aloë brachystachys Backer (Fig. 2)It is a plant native to South Africa (Cape Provinces). Also known as Aloë lastii L.,it is cultivated both in gardens and in pots (Carter & al. 2011). To date, the species isnot known as naturalized or casual in any of the Italian regions (cfr. Galasso & al.2018). In Sicily, a casual population was recently found in Capo Rama, near Terrasini(Palermo), on the outer edges of the homonymous nature reserve. In this locality A.brachystachys coexists with Opuntia stricta L. and other succulents such as Agaveamericana L., Aeonium arboreum (L.) Webb & Berth., Carpobrothus edulis (L.) L.Bolus, and Cylindropuntia sp. (cfr. Raimondo & al. 2021). Aloë maculata All. (Fig. 3)Widely cultivated species in flowerbeds and in pots, in Italy it is given as an alien plant (PA CAS) in Lazio, Campania, Puglia and Sardinia (Galasso & al. 2018). In Sicily, althoughwidely cultivated, it has not been reported as naturalized or casual so far. Two smallgroups, located a few meters from each other, along the rocky coast - between the outcrop-Flora Mediterranea 31 (Special Issue) — 2021                                                               491Fig. 2. Aloë brachystachys in Capo Rama, Palermo.Fig. 3. Aloë maculata in Sferracavallo (Palermo), with other alien species naturalized inSicily.ping limestones and the clayey-sandy soil - were recently found to Punta Matese(Sferracavallo, Palermo). This species can be considered a casual alien in Sicily.Discussion and ConclusionThe alien flora of Sicily is enriched by three additional taxa, two of which (A. brachystachysand A. maculata) to be considered as casual alien species (P A CAS, sensu Galasso & al. 2018).Instead, the spontaneous presence of A. arborescens, a plant that has long been widelycultivated not only in Sicily, offers the opportunity for some considerations, given thewell-known medicinal properties of the leaves which have been widely disclosed in thelast three decades. On the island, in fact, the plants of this species were used for the supplyof leaves which were then used in the preparation of syrups to also be used as a therapeutic.This has resulted in the reduction of cultivated populations, helping to contain the potentialspread of this species not only in urban green areas and in poorly cared public gardens butalso naturalized in partly accessible sites. A. arborescens very decorative and also rustic,is given in all the Italian regions where it is present as a naturalized alien plant (P A NAT,sensu Galasso & al. 2018). In Puglia (Oliveri in Galasso & al. 2019) and, on what has beenreported above, in Sicily it is to be considered, instead, as a causal alien (P A CAS sensuGalasso & al. 2018). The localization in Sicily of the taxa retrieval sites, reported here, isshown in the following Fig. 4.492                                                               Pavone & al.: New Aloes casual alien in SicilyTrapaniPalermoMessinaCataniaCapo Rama2Terrasini3SferracavalloTaormina11CefalùAcirealeCapo Milazzo111Valderice1Termini ImereseFig. 4. Location in Sicily of the discovery sites of the three species of Aloë reported: 1 = A. arborescens;2 = A. brachystachys; 3 = A. maculata.Finally, the report of A. brachystachys as a casual alien species, in this contribution, hasgreater importance both because it is the first case observed in the entire Italian territory,and because it can affect other Italian regions where its spontaneous occurrence hasprobably been hitherto underestimated or, in any case, overlooked.AcknowledgmentsThe authors are grateful to Gianniantonio Domina and Emilio Di Gristina for the criticalreading of the text; to Enrico Bajona for the photo in Fig. 2.ReferencesCarter, S., Lavranos, J. J., Newton, L. E. & Walker, C. C. 2011: Aloes. The definitive Guide. – Kew.Galasso, G, Conti, F., Peruzzi, L., Ardenghi, N. M. G., Banfi, E., Celesti-Grapow, L., Albano, A.,Alessandrini, A., Bacchetta, G., Ballelli, S., Bandini Mazzanti, M., Barberis, G., Bernardo, L.,Blasi, C., Bouvet, D., Bovio, M., Cecchi, L., Del Guacchio, E., Domina, G., Fascetti, S., Gallo,L., Gubellini, L., Guiggi, A., Iamonico, D., Iberite, M., Jimenez-Mejias, P., Lattanzi, E.,Marchetti, D., Martinetto, E., Masin, R.R., Medagli, P., Passalacqua, N. G., Peccenini, S.,Pennei, R., Pierini, B., Podda, L., Poldini, L., Prosser, F., Raimondo, F. M., Roma-Marzio, F.,Rosati, L., Santangelo, A., Scoppola, A., Scortegagna, S., Selvaggi, A., Selvi, F., Soldano, A.,Stinca, A., Wagensommer, R. P., Wilhalm, T. & Bartolucci, F. 2018: An updated checklist ofthe vascular flora alien to Italy. – Pl. Biosyst. 152: 556-592.https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2018.1441197Oliveri, N. 2019: Aloe arborescens L. – In: Galasso, G., Domina, G., Ardenghi, N. M. G., Aristarchi,C., Bacchetta, G., Bartolucci, F., Bonari, G., Bouvet, D., Brundu, G., Buono, S., Caldarella,O., Calvia, G., Cano-Ortiz, A., Corti, E., D’Amico, F. S., D’Antraccoli, M., Di Turi, A., Dutto,M., Fanfarillo, E., Ferretti, G., Fiaschi, T., Ganz, C., Guarino, R., Iberite, M., Laface, V. L. A.,La Rosa, A., Lastrucci, L., Latini, M., Lazzaro, L., Lonati, M., Lozano, V., Luchino, F.,Magrini, S., Mainetti, A., Manca, M., Mugnai, M., Musarella, C. M., Nicolella, G., Olivieri,N., Orrù, I., Pazienza, G., Peruzzi, L., Podda, L., Prosser, F., Ravetto Enri, S., Restivo, S.,Roma-Marzio, F., Ruggero, A., Scoppola, A., Selvi, F., Spampinato, G., Stinca, A., Terzi, M.,Tiburtin, M., Tornatore, E., Vetromile, R. & Nepi, C.: Notulae to the Italian alien vascularflora: 7. – Italian Botanist 7: 157-182. https://doi.org/10.3897/italianbotanist.7.36386Raimondo, F. M., Bajona, E., Di Gristina, E. & Domina, G. 2021: Xenophytes and anthropogenicvegetation in Sicily: the case of Opuntia stricta (Cactaceae) in the protected area of CapoRama (Terrasini, Palermo). – P. XXI in: Abstracts IV International conference. Online, S.B.I.,September 8-10, 2021. – Firenze.Addresses of the authors:Pietro Pavone1, Francesco M. Raimondo1 & Vivienne Spadaro2*,1PLANTA/Center for Research, Documentation and Training, Via Serraglio Vecchio28, I-90123 Palermo, Italy.2Dep.to STEBICEF/Section of Botany, Anthropology and Zoology, University ofPalermo, Via Archirafi 38, I-90123, Palermo, Italy. Email:vivienne.spadaro@unipa.it*Corresponding author.Flora Mediterranea 31 (Special Issue) — 2021                                                               493

New Aloes casual aliens in Sicily

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New Aloes casual aliens in Sicily

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