Maria Adele Signorini

Traditional uses of plants in a rural community of Mozambique and possible links with Miombo degradation and harvesting sustainability

BackgroundMiombo woodlands play an important role in the livelihood of people living in sub-equatorial African countries, contributing to satisfy basic human needs such as food, medicine, fuelwood and building materials. However, over-exploitation of plant resources and unsustainable harvest practices can potentially degrade forests. The aim of this study was to document the use of Miombo plant products, other than medicinal plants, in local communities, within a wider framework in which we discussed possible links between traditional uses and conservation status of the used species and of the whole Miombo environment.MethodsFieldwork took place in four communities of Muda-Serração, central Mozambique. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 52 informants about their knowledge, use and harvesting practices of useful plants. A survey on local Miombo vegetation was also carried out in order to assess abundance and distribution of useful woody plants cited in the interviews in areas exposed to different exploitation rates. A Conservation Priority index was also applied to rank conservation values of each used woody species.ResultsNinety-eight plants cited by the informants were botanically identified. The most relevant general category was represented by food plants (45 species), followed by handicraft plants (38 species) and domestic plants (37 species). Among the 54 woody species observed in vegetation plots, 52% were cited as useful in the interviews. Twenty-six woody species found in ‘natural’ Miombo areas were not found in ‘degraded’ ones: of these, 46% were cited in the interviews (58% in the food category, 50% in the handicraft category, 25% in the domestic category and 8% in the fishing category). Results of conservation ranking showed that 7 woody species deserve conservation priority in the investigated area.ConclusionsThis study shows that the communities investigated rely heavily on local forest products for their daily subsistence requirements in food, firewood/charcoal and building materials. However, over-exploitation and destructive collection seem to threaten the survival of some of the woody species used. A sustainable approach including the involvement of local communities in the management of woody species is recommended.

A new species of Festuca L. (Poaceae) from Liguria (Italy)

Summary F. veneris sp. nov., a local endemism of the rocky coasts of Portovenere and of Island of Palmaria (eastern Liguria, Italy) is described.

A survey of the genus Festuca L. (Poaceae) in Italy. Festuca gamisansii Kerguélen subsp. aethaliae, subsp. nova

ABSTRACT Festuca gamisansii subsp. aethaliae, endemic to the Isle of Elba (Tuscan Archipelago) is described. The morphological, anatomical, karyological, ecological and chorological characteristics of the species are given. The main characteristics distinguishing F. gamisansii subsp. aethaliae from F. gamisansii subsp. gamisansii occurring in Corsica are also summarized.

Caryological observations on Anemone pavonina Lam. (Ranunculaceae) from Tuscany (Italy)

SUMMARYPopulations of Anemone pavonina from Tuscany with simple, semidouble and double flowers were indagated. Caryological studies did not reveal any substantial difference in the three forms. The chromosome number resulted 2n= 16+ IB, with a pair of chromosome satellized. During microsporogenesis, cytomixis and formation of micronuclei occurred. In the cytoplasm of pollen dyads and pollen tetrads, formations were observed, which can be interpreted as persistent nucleoli. Caryological observations seem to validate the hypothesis that populations of A. pavonina in Tuscany originate from cultivated plants.

Types of Festuca names (Poaceae) in the herbarium W: taxa described by Johann Vetter (1865−1945)

Abstract The lectotypes for 30 entities described by the German botanist Johann Vetter within the genus Festuca are here designated: F. ×biformis, F. ×calcigena, F. ×diluta, F. ×duernsteinensis, F. dura var. pubifolia, F. elatior var. elbursiana, F. elatior var. insularis, F. ×firma, F. ×granitica, F. ×interjecta, F. ×kerneri, F. ×laxifolia, F. macedonica, F. ×neilreichiana, F. nigricans var. scabrescens, F. olympica, F. ovina var. fissa, F. ovina var. juncifolia, F. ovina var. kandawanica, F. oviniformis, F. ×pseudosupina, F. ×reptans, F. ×ronnigeri, F. ×saxicola, F. tauricola, F. tauricola var. pilosa, F. ×teyberi, F. ×trigenea, F. ×triplicifolia and F. ×vindobonensis. All the types are conserved in W, as well as all other original material examined during this study. Links to type scans are also provided.

History vs. legend: Retracing invasion and spread of Oxalis pes-caprae L. in Europe and the Mediterranean area

Oxalis pes-caprae L. is a South African geophyte that behaves as an invasive in the eurimediterranean area. According to a long-established hypothesis, O. pes-caprae may have invaded Europe and the Mediterranean area starting from a single plant introduced in the Botanical Garden of Malta at the beginning of the 19th century. The aim of this work was to test this hypothesis, to track the arrival of O. pes-caprae in different countries of the Euro-Mediterranean area and to understand the pathways of spreading and particularly its starting point(s). Historical data attesting the presence of the plant in the whole Euro-Mediterranean region were collected from different sources: herbarium specimens, Floras and other botanical papers, plant lists of gardens, catalogs of plant nurseries and plant dealers. First records of the plant (both cultivated and wild) for each Territorial Unit (3rd level of NUTS) were selected and used to draw up a diachronic map and an animated graphic. Both documents clearly show that oldest records are scattered throughout the whole area, proving that the plant arrived in Europe and in the Mediterranean region more times independently and that its spreading started in different times from several different centers of invasion. Botanical gardens and other public or private gardens, nurseries and plant dealers, and above all seaside towns and harbors seemingly played a strategic role as a source of either intentional and unintentional introduction or spread. A geographic profiling analysis was performed to analyse the data. We used also techniques (Silhouette, Kmeans and Voronoi tessellation) capable of verifying the presence of more than one independent clusters of data on the basis of their geographical distribution. Microsatellites were employed for a preliminary analysis of genetic variation in the Mediterranean. Even if the sampling was insufficient, particularly among the populations of the original area, our data supported three main groups of populations, one of them corresponding to the central group of populations identified by GP analysis, and the other two corresponding, respectively, to the western and the eastern cluster of data. The most probable areas of origin of the invasion in the three clusters of observations are characterized by the presence of localities where the invasive plant was cultivated, with the exception of the Iberian cluster of observation where the observations in the field predate the data about known cultivation localities. Alternative possible reasons are also suggested, to explain the current prevalence of pentaploid short-styled plants in the Euro-Mediterranean area.

The proof is in the... growing? A peculiar case of kidney stones

A 45-year-old woman affected by MEN-1 syndrome with a history of bilateral nephrolithiasis due to parathyroid adenoma (primary hyperparathyroidism) and celiac disease presented to the nephrologist for recurrent episodes of renal colic and urinary passage of small stones with an unusual morphology despite previous surgical removal of the parathyroid adenoma. A complete diagnostic workup ought to be able to establish the type of stones, but contemporary medicine, with its reliance on protocols, procedures and scientific evidence, may have lost sight of the importance of good communication with the patient.

Plant Toponyms as a Tool in Investigating Possible Links Between Cultural and Biological Diversity. The Case of Tuscany

Tuscan toponyms and their relations with forest vegetation were investigated, also with the aim of testing whether toponyms can be used as a source of information on vegetation changes. Main forest species growing in Tuscany were selected and referred to expressly defined topo-species (corresponding either to botanical species or to groups of species), according to their vernacular names. Tuscan toponyms were related to topo-species thanks to an expressly developed computer program. Over 2400 toponyms related with forest topo-species were identified, 1048 of which meaning plant communities. Each toponym was located by a GIS software. Distribution maps of toponyms were generated and compared with actual Tuscan forest vegetation. Only 249 cases (10.3 %) showed a perfect correspondence between topo-species and current vegetation; some of these inconsistencies are discussed.

Non fu tutta colpa di padre Giacinto: spiegazioni troppo semplici e realtà (come sempre) complesse nel cammino di Oxalis pes-caprae L. dal Sudafrica al Mediterraneo

Oxalis pes-caprae L. (= Oxalis cernua Thunb.) is a geophyte native to South Africa (Cape region) that was introduced in Europe in the second half of the eighteenth century as a cultivated plant. It is currently widely naturalized in many regions with mild climates all over the world and in several countries it has become a very noxious weed, due to its impressive capability of spreading through bulbils. According to a theory reported also in Pignatti’s Flora of Italy, all populations currently growing in Europe and the Mediterranean basin originated from a single plant introduced in the island of Malta by an English lady, who gave the plant collected in South Africa as a present to padre Giacinto, a monk and a botanist who founded the Botanical Garden in La Valletta. Starting from Malta, Oxalis pes-caprae would have subsequently spread along Mediterranean coasts and later in the whole continent. According to this theory, all European and Mediterranean populations would be merely parts of the same clone, made up of individuals genetically identical to the one originally arrived in Malta. An investigation based on original data mainly taken from herbarium specimens and bibliographic sources, definitely contradicts this theory, in favor of a more articulated explanation: the species invasion in the area is most likely the result of several different arrivals – both intentional and unintentional – occurred in different times and different places.

L'erbario dipinto di Mattia Moneti : note botaniche

Targioni Tozzetti1 (1776) che nel 1732 accompagno il botanico Pier Antonio Micheli (1679-1737) in un’escursione a Cortona ed ebbe occasione di osservare numerose piante di quel territorio, di cui riporta una diligente lista. Ma scopo – o pretesto – dell’escursione non era solo la conoscenza della flora del territorio: Micheli si recava a Cortona per ordinare la collezione di oggetti naturali dell’Accademia Etrusca, un’accolita di studiosi sorta pochi anni prima in quella citta per iniziativa di un gruppo di cortonesi, tra cui il religioso e naturalista Filippo Venuti. L’Accademia nasceva nel solco di una consuetudine che nel XVII e XVIII secolo ispiro l’istituzione di un gran numero di queste aggregazioni di intellettuali e volenterosi che coltivavano interessi come le belle lettere, l’archeologia o i vari aspetti di quella che allora veniva chiamata la Filosofia naturale. Nelle sue giornate cortonesi, che dovettero certo lasciare una forte impronta nella vita culturale della cittadina, Micheli si dedico dunque ad ordinare le collezioni dell’Accademia, a erborizzare e a identificare le sue piante, e anche le molte che erano state raccolte in precedenza dallo stesso Venuti con lo scopo di dare alle stampe un catalogo della flora di Cortona, che sfortunatamente, per quanto si sa, non vide mai la luce. E verosimile2 che, oltre a Venuti, Micheli abbia avuto per compagno di escursioni e di dissertazioni botaniche anche il prete botanofilo – come lo defini Targioni Tozzetti – Mattia Moneti, su cui si trovano notizie negli scritti di Dragone Testi, Buresti e Gialluca3 e nei documenti da loro citati, molti dei quali manoscritti. Della vita di Moneti e presto detto: nato a Cortona nel 1687, nel 1711 viene ordinato sacerdote e nel 1735 gli viene affidata la parrocchia in campagna di Sant’Angelo in Metelliano. Nel 1754, al momento della fondazione della Societa Botanica cortonese di cui e fatto presidente Filippo Venuti, Moneti ne viene nominato direttore; l’anno successivo e ascritto all’Accademia Etrusca. Muore nel 1758 a 72 anni a Sant’Angelo, dove e sepolto. Si sa da Targioni Tozzetti che, come Venuti, anche Moneti erborizzo assiduamente nel territorio cortonese, ma le piante da lui raccolte – al pari di quelle di Venuti – non ci sono arrivate. Di lui non si sarebbe dunque conservata particolare memoria se, oltre alla lapide sulla tomba che ne loda le qualita di religioso e di botanico, non fossero rimasti anche i volumi di immagini di piante da lui dipinte, conservati nella Biblioteca di Cortona (Fig. 8). Il carattere dell’uomo emerge con chiarezza dagli aggettivi usati negli scritti dei biografi: la Dragone Testi lo definisce umile, mite, buono, ma piu frequentemente modesto; Buresti usa i termini studioso, umile, riservato, ignoto, onesto, laborioso, paziente, ma soprattutto mite; il contemporaneo Lodovico L’erbario dipinto di Mattia Moneti: note botaniche