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Asperula rupestris Tineo (1827: 276) is a species endemic to Sicily, southern Italy. It is a chasmophyte growing on northexposed calcareous rocks and cliffs of the main promontories of NW Sicily and the islands of Favignana and Marettimo, Egadi Islands, NW of Siciliy (see e.g., Giardina et al. 2007).A nomenclatural study of Asperula rupestris (Rubiaceae, tribe Rubieae) revealed that this name has not yet been typified (Peruzzi et al. 2015). The present paper is part of ongoing research on the names of vascular plants described using specimens collected in Sicily (e.g., Di Gristina et al. 2012, 2016, 2017, 2020; Domina et al. 2014, 2016, 2017a, 2017b; Scafidi & Domina 2019; Scafidi et al. 2020; Traclet et al. 2017). This investigation contributes to the project of the Floristic Group of the Italian Botanical Society to typify all taxa described from Italy, in order to increase their systematic knowledge and promote further studies (Domina et al. 2012; Peruzzi et al. 2015, 2019; Brundu et al. 2017).

The name Galatella sorrentinoi Todaro (Asteraceae) is lectotypified with a specimen housed in the Herbarium Mediterraneum Panormitanum (PAL). The specimen selected as the lectotype agrees with protologue and with the current usage of the name.

As part of an ongoing study on the names of vascular plants described from Sicily, a nomenclature study of the name Eryngium siculum Lojacono-Pojero (Apiaceae Lindl.), which appears to be yet untypified, is here presented.

A new endemic taxon of Hieracium belonging to the H. racemosum aggregate is described from Basilicata (southern Italy) and named H. racemosum subsp. lucanum. Information on its morphology, distribution, ecology and taxonomic relationship is provided.

As part of an ongoing study on the names of vascular plants described from Sicily (Southern Italy), a nomenclature investigation on the name Lavatera agrigentina Tineo, basionym of Malva agrigentina (Tineo) Soldano, Banfi & Galasso in Banfi et al., which appears to be yet untypified, is here presented.

Schede per il monitoraggio delle specie Carex panormitana Guss. e Leontodon siculus (Guss.) Nyman all'interno del Manuale per il monitoraggio di specie ed habitat di interesse comunitario secondo la Direttiva 92/43/CEE in Italia.

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Furthermore, three new combinations are proposed. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1.

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions of taxa in the genera Bunias, Calocedrus, Calycanthus, Celosia, Clerodendrum, Convolvulus, Crassula, Cyclamen, Datura, Dicliptera, Eragrostis, Erigeron, Gamochaeta, Gazania, Impatiens, Kolkwitzia, Leucaena, Ludwigia, Medicago, Muscari, Nigella, Oenothera, Opuntia, Paulownia, Petroselinum, Phyllostachys, Physalis, Pseudosasa, Quercus, Reynoutria, Roldana, Saccharum, Sedum, Semiarundinaria, Senecio, Sisyrinchium, Solanum, Sporobolus, Tulipa, Vachellia, Verbena, and Youngia. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1.

Publisher Copyright: © This dataset is made available under the Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0/). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for others, provided that the original source and author(s) are credited In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1.

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of native vascular flora in Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes to the Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Artemisia, Chaetonychia, Cirsium, Cynanchum, Genista, Hieracium, Iberis, Melica, Misopates, Myosotis, Thalictrum, Trifolium, Utricularia, Veronica, and Vicia. Nomenclatural and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrigenda are provided as supplementary material.

This article presents a comprehensive inventory of the urban vascular flora of the town of Palermo. The data were gathered from extensive field collections, from specimens kept in different herbaria, and publications of the last 30 years. The floristic catalogue includes all the vascular plants that occur spontaneously within the urban area. Thirteen taxa are endemic to Sicily and one of these, Clinopodium raimondoi, is exclusive to Palermo’s area. The inventory comprises 1052 taxa belonging to 119 families and 225 genera, and contains 170 taxa non-native to the Italian flora.

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1.

Abies nebrodensis, endemic to the Madonie mountains (central-north Sicily), was originally described by Lojacono Pojero as A. pectinata var. nebrodensis and later raised to the rank of species. The species is considered to be critically endangered and was thought to be extinct until an extant population was rediscovered in 1957. The name is here lectotypified on a specimen preserved at NAP.

A new hawkweed taxon endemic to the Pollino National Park (southern Italy), Hieracium jurassicum subsp. serrapretense, is described and illustrated. Information on its morphology, distribution, ecology and taxonomic relationship is provided.

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions of taxa in the generaAcalypha,Acer,Canna,Cardamine,Cedrus,Chlorophytum,Citrus,Cyperus,Epilobium,Eucalyptus,Euphorbia,Gamochaeta,Hesperocyparis,Heteranthera,Lemna,Ligustrum,Lycium,Nassella,Nothoscordum,Oenothera,Osteospermum,Paspalum,Pontederia,Romulea,Rudbeckia,Salvia,Sesbania,Setaria,Sicyos,Styphnolobium,Symphyotrichum, andTradescantia. Nomenclature and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrigenda are provided as supplementary material.

Some Sicilian cultivars, in particular vintage, showed a high percentage of flower abscissions and shot berries. In this paper, to understand these phenomena, some aspects of the flower morphology of three Sicilian cultivars (two black: ‘Nero d’Avola’ and ‘Frappato’; and one white: ‘Grillo’) was studied. The number of stamens, ovule adherence to the ovary wall and pollen germination were evaluated using standard light microscopy. At harvest, seed number was counted on 30 berries per cultivar. The percentage of six stamens was lowest in ‘Frappato’ and highest in ‘Grillo’. The ovule adherence to the ovary wall was highest in ‘Frappato’ and lowest in ‘Nero d’Avola’. The percentage of pollen germination and seed number was high in ‘Frappato’ while low in ‘Grillo’. Five or six stamens were found in all cultivars. These results could partially explain the different bunch density in ‘Nero d’Avola’, ‘Grillo’ and ‘Frappato’.

The presence of Hieracium pollinense Zahn in Italy is confirmed here after 132 years since its first description based on a single collection made in 1877 in the Mt. Pollino. It is a calcicolous species, so far represented by one population, belongs to the H. sect. Villosa. In line with the IUCN criteria its conservation status assessment is “endangered”.

Record of Talinum paniculatum (Talinaceae) naturalized in Sicily. – The record in the urban context of Palermo (Sicily) of Talinum paniculatum, species native to Tropical America and mainly cultivated for ornamental purposes, is reported. It is the first case of naturalization in the Island of a species of Talinaceae family introduced to Palermo in 1984 from Argentina and cultivated in the Botanical Garden collections.

In this contribution, new data concerning the Italian distribution of alien vascular flora are presented. It includes new records, exclusions and confirmations for Italy or for Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Ageratum, Aster, Buddleja, Cedrus, Centranthus, Cephalotaxus, Clerodendrum, Cotoneaster, Cyperus, Honorius, Lantana, Ligustrum, Morus, Muscari, Oenothera, Opuntia, Platycladus, Plumbago, Pseudotsuga, Sedum, Sporobolus, Stachys, Ulmus and Yucca. A nomen novum, Stachys talbotii, is proposed as a replacement name for Sideritis purpurea.

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 “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. Since this, Disney’s 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 “Alice in wonderland”, 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 “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland”, an 1865 novel written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll with several inclusions of the sequel “Through the Looking-Glass” 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 “Through the Looking- Glass” titled “The garden of live flowers”. 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 ×superbum, 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. ×wittrockiana 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’s, 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.

Isatis L. (Brassicaceae) is an Eurasian genus including 79 species (1). It is one of the most difficult cruciferous genera (2). Some species, in fact, are highly polymorphic in fruit morphology, the structures that provide the most diagnostic characters (3). In addition, due to the extreme variability in all morphological characters, the limits of many species are uncertain (4). Most if not all diagnostic characters used in earlier classifications are very variable and because of the unreliability of vegetative and floral characters it is difficult or impossible to identify many specimens when mature fruits are missing (5). The patterns of variation suggest that hybridisation may be widespread (4). Moreover, intermediate specimens are rather frequent, even between some taxa that are morphologically easily recognisable (4). In Italy, according to Conti & al. (6), Isatis is represented by 3 species: I. apennina Grande (= I. allioni P.W.Ball), endemic to Italy and France (south-west Alps and central Apennine), I. praecox Kit., an European taxon restricted to Lombardia, and I. tinctoria L., an Asiatic species widespread in central and south Italy. Floristic investigations in the Pollino National Park (on the Lucanian side) led to the discovery of a little population referable to I. tinctoria. However, a comparative study of the plants showed that they differ in many relevant characters. The fact that this Lucanian population has morphological dissimilarities involves its critical revision that could bring to a new taxonomic delimitation.

The present contribution is part of the ongoing work promoted by the Italian Botanical Society aimed at recognizing and typifying all the taxa described from Italy and their loci classici, in order to increase their systematic knowledge and promote further studies (Domina et al. 2012, Peruzzi et al. 2015, Brundu et al. 2017). One of these taxa is Erodium soluntinum Todaro (1869: 36), a species belonging to Geraniaceae and considered an Italian endemic (Conti et al. 2005, Peruzzi et al. 2014, 2015). This name, as far as we are aware, is not yet typified.

The Ras Dimas lagoon lies along the coast of Central Tunisia (35°37'45.84"N, 11° 2'44.61"E), in the region of Sahel, about 20 km linear distance to the south from Monastir and about 160 km from Tunisi. The lagoon is made up by a sandy peninsula with white sands rich in limestone with fine granulometry, about 3 km long, up to 200 m wide and up to 2 m high, that contains about 120 hectares of sea. Previously this peninsula was regularly isolated from the continent forming the island of Edzira, in the last years, sea storms and the different streams course, likely caused by the restructuring of the Port of Bekalta, has given the actual configuration of a peninsula. In April 2013, as part of the Initiative PIM, a scientific mission, initially planned in the Island of Kuriat, has been moved to the coast of central Tunisia due to bad weather conditions. This shift made possible the floristic survey of areas with great naturalistic value, still not well floristically known. During this mission, phytosociological relevés have been taken and herbarium specimens have been collected and stored in the Herbarium Mediterraneum Panormitanum (PAL); plant identification has been done with the help of the Flora of Italy (1) and of Tunisia (2, 3) and by direct comparison with the exsiccata housed in PAL. The distribution of taxa and phytocoenoses resulted to be influenced by elevation and distance from the sea shore. The studied vegetation is characterized by psammophilous and halophytic communities. Flat areas near the sea are colonized by communities referable to the class Cakiletea maritimae, followed inwards by a belt of embryo dunes that houses perennial rhizomatous Poaceae characterizing the class Ammophiletea and related syntaxa. The flat, periodically flooded, areas behind the dunes are dominated by Juncus maritimus Lam., in contact with saltmarshes dominated by Sarcocornia perennis (Mill.) A.J. Scott (classes Juncetea maritimi and Sarcocornietea fruticosae, respectively).Where the altitude is some decimetres a.s.l., a more mature vegetation dominated by small cushion shaped chamaephytes belonging to Crucianelletalia maritimae. Near the inner part of the lagoon, where the elevation is a bit higher (some dm a.s.l.), there is a grassland of Lygeum spartum L. On the inner, on stabilized dunes, there are few remnants of a psammophilous maquis dominated by Retama retam subsp. bovei (Spach) Talavera & Gibbs, ascribed to the class Quercetea ilicis (Oleo-Ceratonion). Taxa of particular biogeographic interest found in the surveyed area are: Anagallis monellii L., Echiochilon fruticosum Desf., Helianthemum stipulatum (Forssk.) C. Chr., Linaria aegyptiaca (L.) Dumort., Silene succulenta Forssk. and Stachys arenaria Vahl. Cuscuta palaestina Boiss. subsp. palaestina and Carduus argyroa Biv. are here reported for the second time from Tunisia (4, 5). The exploration of the peninsula of Ras Dimas, allowed us to collect and study many taxa and to gather an unprecedented herbarium and photographic documentation of the flora and plant communities. Further research is aimed, that will provide new data also in comparison with the previous vegetation cover of the area.

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 systematic relationships between the five different subspecies actually recognized within Dianthus rupicola (subsp. aeolicus , subsp. bocchorianus , subsp. hermaensis, subsp. lopadusanus and subsp. rupicola ), were assessed by means of morphometric and molecular analysis. Our results highlighted the molecular differences between the five subspecies of D. rupicola and a morphological differentiation of four groups being D. rupicola subsp. aeolicus and D. rupicola subsp. rupicola partly overlapping. At the present state of knowledge, a subspecific status seems the most appropriate for all the recognized subspecies of D. rupicola . The names D. aeolicus , D. bisignanii var. virescens , D. hermaeensis , D. rupicola are here lectotypified respectively on specimens preserved at PAL, NAP, P, and BOLO, while D. bisignanii s.str. is lectotypified on a Tenore’s image and a epitype (at K) is designated. Concerning the name D. rupicola subsp. bocchorianus the holotype is traced.

On some new plants to Pelagic islands (Straits of Sicily) – 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.

Adenostyles Cass., è un genere endemico europeo, appartenente alla la tribù delle Senecioneae, e fa parte del cosidetto ‘gruppo Quadridentato’ insieme ai generi Caucasalia B. Nord., Dolichorrhiza (Pojark.) Galushko, Iranecio B. Nord. e Pojarkovia Askerova. Esso è prevalentemente distribuito in tutto il territorio alpino, ma il suo areale si estende anche alla Spagna settentrionale, Corsica (Francia) e lungo tutta la catena appenninica in Italia, comprese le montagne della Calabria e della Sicilia, Balcani e, dubitativamente, in Grecia. Nel presente studio vengono presentati i risultati sugli studi tassonomici effettuati sui taxa appartenenti al gruppo di Adenostyles alpina (Asteraceae) presenti in Italia meridionale. In particolare, per le 12 popolazioni campionate, sono state condotte analisi morfometriche su 29 caratteri divisi in 21 quantitativi continui, 5 quantitativi discreti e 3 qualitativi e sono state analizzati i rapporti filogenetici utilizzando 2 marcatori nucleari (nrITS e nrETS) e un marcatore plastidiale (ndhF-rpl32). Inoltre il presente studio, si propone di chiarire l’esatta consistenza dell’unica popolazione di A. alpina subsp. nebrodensis, taxon endemico puntiforme delle Madonie (Sicilia), il monitoraggio in campo e la ricerca di ulteriori popolamenti all’interno del territorio madonita e nel restante territorio Siciliano. I risultati ottenuti hanno permesso di confermare che A. alpina subsp. nebrodensis, è fortemente a rischio di estinzione essendo ad oggi, conosciuto un unico individuo. Inoltre, è stato possibile estendere l’areale di A. alpina subsp. macrocephala, ritenuta finora esclusiva dell’Aspromonte, anche alla Sila ed escludere la presenza A. alpina subsp. alpina e di A. alliariae in Italia meridionale e tutte le segnalazioni precedenti di questi taxa sono da riferire ad A. australis, endemica dell’Italia meridionale. Infine viene ridefinito lo status di A. australis, considerando come sottospecie di A. alpina e sono state costruite chiavi dicotomiche per il riconoscimento dei taxa del gruppo di A. alpina, realizzando per ognuno di essi una scheda descrittiva. Adenostyles Cass., is a genus endemic to Europe belonging to the tribe Senecioneae and to the “group quadridentate” with Caucasalia B. Nord., Dolichorrhiza (Pojark.) Galushko, Iranecio B. Nord. and Pojarkovia Askerova. It is distributed in the whole Alpine territory but its distribution extends also to N Spain, Corse (France) and along the whole Apennine chain in Italy until Calabria and Sicily, in the Balkans and, dubitatively, in Greece. In this study the results of taxonomic studies done on the taxa belonging to the group of Adenostyles alpina (Asteraceae) occurring in S Italy are presented. In particular, for the 12 surveyed populations, morphologic analyses on 29 characters (21 quantitative continuous, 5 quantitative discrete and 3 qualitative) and their phylogenetic relations have been analysed using 2 nuclear (nrITS and nrETS) and a plastidial marker (ndhF-rpl32). In addition this study aims to survey the single known population of A. alpina subsp. nebrodensis, punctual endemic to the Madonie, in Sicily, and to search in the field further populations in the Madonie and in the rest of Sicily. The results obtained confirmed that A. alpina subsp. nebrodensis is critically endangered due to the fact that a single individual still exists. It has been possible to extend the distribution range of A. alpina subsp. macrocephala, up to now considered exclusive to Aspromonte, to Sila and to exclude the occurrence of A. alpina subsp. alpina and of A. alliariae in S Italy and refer their previous records to A. australis, endemic to S Italy. Finally, the taxonomic status of A. australis is reconsidered as subspecies of A. alpina and new dichotomous key have been realized for the identification of the taxa belonging to the A. alpina group. A descriptive form for each of the considered taxa is proposed.