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In this paper, Allium sphaeronixum, a new species of the sect. Codonoprasum from Turkey, is described and illustrated. The new species is endemic to Central Anatolia, limited to the area of Nevşehir, where it grows on sandy or rocky soil at an elevation of 1000–1300 m a.s.l. Its morphology, phenology, karyology, leaf anatomy, seed testa micromorphology, chorology, and conservation status are examined in detail. The taxonomic relationships with the closest allied species, A. staticiforme and A. myrianthum, are also highlighted and discussed.

In the present study, successful germination protocols for 11 different taxa of the genus Helichrysum native to Sicily are discussed. Eight of them are representative of strict endemic Sicilian taxa, 2 are Italian sub endemic and one, namely H. stoechas, is a widespread W Mediterranean species. Given the controversial taxonomic status and relationships of the Mediterranean Helichrysum, the taxonomic approach enhancing the existing diversity of Sicilian populations was herein adopted from current literature. First germination records are given for some of the investigated taxa.

Loncomelos visianicum, a rare and poorly known geophyte of the Croatian flora, was described from the remote and uninhabited Adriatic island of Palagruza as Ornithogalum visianicum, and it has not been collected again for over a century. Basing on living materials, recently rediscovered in the locus classicus, it was possible to carry out a careful investigation regarding the morphology, karyology, leaf anatomy, and ecology of this very peculiar species. It is triploid, showing 2n = 42 + 0-5B chromosomes, taxonomically quite isolated, showing some morphological relationships with L. narbonense and L. creticum. Currently, L. visianicum is represented by a low number of individuals growing in rocky places within the xerophilous maquis. In addition to a detailed description, a new iconography, conservation status and identification key for Croatian taxa of the genus Loncomelos are also provided.

This study investigated seed germination in nine psammophilous species occurring in Sicilian sand dunes, some of which, such as Muscari gussonei, Launaea resedifolia and Pancratium maritimum, are endemic and/or rare and very scattered in the area. Different germination protocols were tested for one or more populations and the best germination results per species are provided, reporting experimental conditions and specific comments on the germination behaviour.

Vicia brulloi, a new species from Peloritani range in NE Sicily, is described and illustrated. It is a perennial climbing liane linked to riparian woods, showing close relationship mainly with V. pisiformis, having a scattered European distribution. In particular, V. brulloi is a very rare and extremely localized species morphologically well distinct from V. pisiformis in several remarkable features, such as the dense indumentum covering the vegetative structures and calyces, the shape and size of flower pieces, pods, seeds, as well as seed testa micromorphology. Another relevant peculiarity of V. brulloi is the lower tooth of the calyx replaced by a green leafy appendix, character infrequent in legumes and hitherto never observed in other Vicia species, which clearly represents the residue of its ancestral foliar origin. The morphology, pollen grain and seed testa micromorphology, chromosome complement 2n = 2x = 12, seedling features, reproductive biology, biogeography, habitat, ecology, conservation status and taxonomic relationships of the new species are examined.

Despite an increasing societal awareness and sensitivity about biological diversity and nature conservation as pivotal matters for human survival and well-being, plant systematics has gone through a steady decline in interest, and researches on these topics are often neglected. This particularly applies to plant morphology in its broad sense (i.e. including anatomy, histology, micro-morphology), which has increasingly become marginalized and considered less important than other scientific methods in plant biology. Notwithstanding, even in the current times of genomics (plus other “omics” topics) and functional ecology, when trait-based approaches are essential for studying and understanding plant functions and species relationships, comparative morphology as integrative discipline still assumes a pivotal role, remaining fundamentally relevant to nearly all fields of plant biology. Lots of studies have demonstrated how vegetative and reproductive characters, and their anatomical and/or micro-morphological structures, can be informative for phylogenetic studies and helpful to solve taxonomic problems at various levels. Most phenotypic traits show adaptive variation and different range of plasticity which have proved to be of great ecological and physiological significance and useful, for instance, in reconstructing plant adaptation to past climatic conditions or establishing defence mechanisms and structural changes in response to stress and climate changes, which all are basic information for nature conservation. Meanwhile, understanding patterns and origins of such morphological modifications is crucial to address main evo-devo questions. The role in other applied sciences, as agriculture, bioengineering, and forensic botany, is no less important. Contrary to common belief, plant morphology is not a conservative finished science, but, like other sciences, it is open to constant innovations involving concepts (e.g. the shifting from structure-based to function-based evolutionary perspective) and methods. Actually, plant morphology has changed over time and improved its analytical approaches embracing new technologies and tools, without neglecting traditional methods. Examples of such applications will be provided and discussed.

Sicilian forest ecosystems are, in general, numerically poor in terms of their floristic composition. As many studies on Sicilian dendroflora have highlighted, such poorness is not intrinsic to forest formations, but it is due to the millenary human pressures. Repeated passage of fire, continuous wood usage and reforestations by single or few species dra- matically reduced the plant biodiversity of Sicilian forest ecosystems, often suffering of monodominance. The Sicilian dendroflora includes several endangered species, such as Abies nebrodensis, Betula aetnensis, Celtis tournefortii subsp. asperrima and subsp. aetnensis, as the wild pears, which in Sicily are represented by 4 endemic species, in addition to the commonly known Pyrus spinosa and P. pyraster. Similarly, the genus Salix counts 8 different species instead of the given 4. Thus, higher attention toward all these taxa, which strongly improve the forest heritage of specific areas, is needed. Throughout their knowledge, survey, propagation and extensive use, the risk of local and general biodiversity loss can be limited. These actions necessarily require a targeted nursery program aimed to produce plantlets with high genetic variability starting from local propagation material.

Pancratium L. is the most widespread genus of the Eurasian clade of Amaryllidaceae. It includes about 20 species of bulbous herbaceous geophytes, naturally occurring only in Macaronesia, Mediterranean basin, and throughout Africa to tropical Asia, but also introduced and cultivated in many countries (De Castro & al.2012). Pancratium species generally occur in specialized habitats, such as dry rocky slopes, cliffs, sandy seashores, coastal dunes, desert sandy soils. Leaf features are the main adaptive strategies of these plants in response to the numerous environmental constraints. Leaves in Pancratium show a gross morphological identity being usually glaucous, ensiform, parallel-veined, plane-convex to slightly V-shaped, straight to curly or spirally twisted. Difference at macroscopic level also regards leaf tip (acute to obtuse) and lamina width, ranging among different species from 0.2 up to 5 cm. Despite such uniformity of the leaf visible traits, micro-morphological and anatomical characteristics reveal significant variation both at intra-specific and inter-specific levels, which have proven to strongly depend on adaptation to microclimatic and ecological local conditions, such as temperature, water availability, insolation (Morton 1965; Sultan &al.2010; Perrone & al. 2013, 2015). Here we present preliminary results of a comparative morpho-anatomical study carried out on leaves of some species of Pancratium from different localities of Mediterranean area in order to assess the range of inter-specific variation to be used as additional evidence for taxonomic delimitation, as well as population similarity or dissimilarity related to ecological adaptation. Selected species were P. sickenbergeri Boiss., P. foetidum Pomel, P. illyricum L., and P. maritimum L., including plants from Linosa (Pelagie Islands) previously referred to P. linosae Soldano & F. Conti, a taxonomic distinction not supported by molecular data (De Castro & al.2012; Giovino & al. 2015). Morphometric analysis and statistics were made on 37 micro-morphological and anatomical characters calculated from 10 samples for each population. The significance of variation for each trait was tested by one-way ANOVA. Data comparison was made by three multivariate approaches: stepwise DFA, PCA, and UPGMA cluster analysis based on squared Euclidean distance. The comparative analysis of leaf traits of the investigated taxa of Pancratium confirmed a rather stable and uniform leaf morpho-anatomical structure (Rudall 1995). Notwithstanding, significant differences in the size, number and/or type of several micro-morphological and anatomical leaf traits were detected as clearly linked to specific environmental conditions. As expected, leaves of P. sickenbergeri from Israeli desert showed the major mix of xeromorphic characteristics, such as very undulate leaf surface, the thickest epidermis and palisade tissue, the lowest number of veins which are very narrow, high stomata index, wide mesophyll with large spongy tissue. Samples clustered according to taxa in all multivariate analyses. Cross-validation results of the discriminant analysis provided sample percentages correctly classified to each group ranging from 90% to 100% with respect to P. sickenbergeri, P. illyricum, and P. maritimum from Is. of Linosa, while the overall percentage was 63.33%, due to some overlapping of different populations of P.maritimum and P.foetidum from Algeria. In summary, there is a strong relationships between leaf morpho-anatomical traits and ecological adaptation to different microclimatic conditions. In addition, our study also revealed marked diversity between the examined populations of P. foetidum coming from different habitats, with leaves of long-term cultivated samples at Catania Botanical Garden highly diverging from those ones of wild N African specimens.

Although lots of studies have been carried out through various analytical approaches and at different taxonomic levels, this overview reveals that actually a comprehensive biosystematic survey on the Mediterranean wild populations of Brassica oleracea group is still lacking.

New findings for Malus crescimmanoi, originally known from the mountain area near Floresta (Nebrodi Mts.). The new sites fall in Madonie Mts., where the species is found at the edge of Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. and Fagus sylvatica woods, growing on quartzarenitic substratum at 1200-1800 m of elevation. These new localities are placed at the south-western limit of Fagus sylvatica distribution area, on both north-facing [Contrada Sempria (Castelbuono) and slopes of Madonna dell’Alto (Castellana Sicula)], and south-facing slopes [Locality Prato (Polizzi Generosa)].

The authors present the updated results of such census in the Italian Seed Bank Network for native species conservation (RIBES) with an analysis of the contribution to the conservation of the Italian FAO priority CWR. Finally, a national priority list for conservation of CWRs was drawn up and proposed here.

Allium paniculatum L. is commonly recorded from the Euro-Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian regions. Evidence from literature and herbarium collections revealed that many different taxa of A. sect. Codonoprasum Rchb., all characterized by big size, diffuse and densely flowered umbrella, very long spathe valves, long pedicels, and cylindrical-campanulate perigon, have been wrongly attributed to this species thus affecting records on its geographic distribution and morphological characterization. In order to define the true identity of A. paniculatum, we analyzed specimens coming from the type locality (Don River), and provided details on morphology, ecology, karyology, leaf anatomy, seed morphology and seed coat micro-sculpturing. Taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships with related species of sect. Codonoprasum and with other taxa of different sections were investigated by means of morphological characters and molecular data from the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) nrDNA and the trnH-psbA cpDNA region. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference analyses of molecular data recovered two main clades in A. sect. Codonoprasum and clearly separated A. paniculatum from related taxa. The taxonomic implications of these patterns of relationships are discussed. To our knowledge, this is the first study documenting in-depth phylogenetic relationships within A. sect. Codonoprasum.

Significant karyological variation occurs amongst different taxa/populations in the A. cupani group. The ancestral diploid chromosome complement is 2n = 16 (x = 8), but populations of A. cupani s.l. also exhibit dysploidy (2n = 14), polyploidy (2n = 4x = 32, 2n = 4x = 30). These different chromosome assets are associated to specific diagnostic morphological characters and well-defined eco-geographical patterns, which cluster different taxa and populations in 5 series (Brullo&al. 1995, 2008). In order to test the impact of inter-and intra-specific variation in chromosome structure on the systematic treatment of the A. cupani group and its contribution to allow comparing and understanding affinities and relationships among taxa, multivariate statistics was applied to 34 karyomorphometric parameters from 34 samples belonging to 22 taxa which represent the main variability with respect to morphological, cytological and ecological patterns within A. cupani s. l.

A better understanding of morphological, ultra-structural and anatomical seed coat characteristics can contribute to explain and predict seed performance under certain environmental conditions and select the most suitable treatments promoting seed germination. The Seed Banks at the Botanic Gardens of Catania and Palermo (Sicily) are particularly involved in research studies aimed to detect and describe macro- and micro-morphological features of seeds from different plant families and genera, using both light and scanning electron microscopy. These studies mainly aim to 1) recognize and compare inter- and intra-specific variation of seed coat traits, with particular attention on rare and threatened species; 2) evaluate the usefulness of these traits in taxonomic and phylogenetic studies; 3) establish correlations between seed coat structures and seed germination; 4) understand the seed coat adaptive potential and sensitivity to particular ecological conditions and changing environments.

Quality of green spaces is an important indicator in the smart urban evolution. Integration between green management needs and ecosystem services within environmental policies and local development plans is often very limited. Urban green infrastructures and related issues still arouse poor interest, mainly in South Mediterranean cities. Methods for full assessment of urban green areas integrating diverse features of sustainability (from biodiversity to public awareness and fruition) are still lacking. Here we aim to present an integrated tool to evaluate/monitor the state and sustainability of urban green spaces. The goal is to support the governance systems of urban green areas by focusing management priorities and the best strategies ensuring their long-term maintenance and improvement.

A new species Allium oporinanthum is described from some localities of the NW Mediterranean área. The new species belongs to A. sect. Codonoprasum and is usually localized on limestone in shady rocky places. It is an autumnal species with a tetraploid chromosome number (2n = 32). Its old origin and its taxonomic relationships are examined too.Se describe Allium oporinanthum de varias localidades del Mediterráneo noroccidental. La nueva especie pertenece a la sección Codonoprasum y normalmente se localiza en las rocas calizas umbrosas. Se trata de una especie otoñal con un número cromosomático tretraploide (2n = 32). Además se examina su posible origen y afinidades taxonómicas.

This publication is one of the expected results of the European porject GARDMED (PO Italy- Malta 2007-2013). It aims to bring people to discover the Mediterranean gardens, highlighting the great botanical diversity, the history, the artistic, cultural and natural heritage.

A new species of Allium sect. Scorodon Koch, Allium cithaeronis Bogdanović, C. Brullo, Brullo, Giusso, Musarella & Salmeri (Alliaceae), is described and illustrated from Greece. Its chromosome number (2n = 16), karyogram, leaf anatomy, ecology, and taxonomical relationships are examined. For some morphological features, such as exserted stamens from perigon and tuberculate lobes in the upper part of the ovary, it represents a very isolated species within the section Scorodon.

Allium cithaeronis, a new species of A. sect. Scorodon from Greece is described and illustrated. Its chromosome number (2n=16), karyogram, leaf anatomy, ecology, taxonomical relationship are examined. For some morphological features, such as exerted stamens from perigon and tuberculate lobes in the upper part of the ovary,it represents a very isolated species within the A. sect. Scorodon.

Allium achaium Boiss. & Orph. ex Boiss. (Alliaceae), a critical and misappreciated species of Greek flora is investigated from taxonomic point of view and illustrated. It belongs to A. sect. Codonoprasum and shows close relationships with the taxa of the A. stamineum Boiss group. Besides, its karyology, ecology and distribution are examined.

Allium achaium Boiss. (Alliaceae), a critical and misappreciated species of Greek flora is investigated from a taxonomic point of view and illustrated. It belongs to sect. Codonoprasum Rchb. and shows close relationships with the taxa of the Allium stamineum Boiss. group. Karyology, ecology and distribution of that species are examined.

Taxonomy and relationships of Allium dentiferum, a polyploid synanthropic Mediterranean species, are assessed based on morphological, karyological and cladistic analysis. A new species, Allium galileum, closely related to A. dentiferum, is described and illustrated. Both species are large and share very long spathe valves, yellow-greenish tepals and interstaminal teeth. The new species, however, is diploid and linked to natural habitats, and is characterized by the lax and spread inflorescence, purple stamen filaments and the smaller perigon, anthers, ovary and capsule. Relationships among these two species and allied taxa of Allium sect. Codonoprasum, such as A. fuscum, A. pallens, A. paniculatum and A. longispathum, are discussed. A cladistic analysis based on morphological, karyological and phenological data of these species and taxa belonging to A. sect. Codonoprasum is presented. In the strict consensus tree the taxa are separated in distinct groups correlating with several diagnostic taxonomic characters.