Marta Mazzanti

Althenia Filiformis Petit: Azione Della Temperatura e Dell'Acqua di Mare Sulla Germinazione

Abstract Effects of temperature and sea water on germination behaviour of Althenia filiformis Petit seeds. - Germination capacity and energy of Althenia filiformis Petit seeds have been investigated, 90 and 180 days after ripening, to carry out a preliminary study on ecology of this species. This species, halophite and hydrophyte, is spreaded along the coast shores of middle-west mediterranean sea and atlantic shores of Morocco, Spain, Portugal and France. Seeds were soaked in the dark, at 10°, 20°, 30°C, in solutions at different salt concentration: sea water; sea water diluted in deionized water at ratios (v/v) 1: 2, 1: 4, 1: 8; sea water plus 26 gr/l NaCl; deionized water, as control. The experimental results show that germination is reduced and delayed when seeds are soaked in progressively concentrated salt solutions; in sea water plus 26 gr/l NaCl seed germination is inhibited. Seeds pretreated by soaking at 3°C for 10 days in sea water diluted (1:1) by deionized water did not show, when soaked in s...

Flora Palinologica Italiana, Sezione Aeropalinologica —S 103:Cupressus sempervirens L

SummaryThis contribution to the «Palynological Italian Flora, Aeropalynological Section» deals withCupressus sempervirens L. (Mediterranean cypress). Palynological card regards fresh and acetolyzed pollen.RiassuntoViene presentata la scheda palinologica diCupressus sempervirens L. (cipresso comune), redatta su polline fresco e acetolizzato secondo il programma della «Flora Palinologica Italiana, Sezione Aeropalinologica».

Middle-to late-Holocene environmental changes in the Garigliano delta plain (Central Italy): which landscape witnessed the development of the Minturnae Roman colony?

Geomorphologic, stratigraphic, faunistic, palynological and 14C analyses were carried out in the area of the mouth of the Garigliano River characterized by two strand plains that are referred to the Eutyrrhenian and the Holocene, rimming two depressed zones separated by the Garigliano River channel. This study depicts the palaeoenvironmental evolution over the last 8200 years and the landscape context at the time of Minturnae Roman colony. Between 8200 and 7500 yr BP, a wet zone occurred in the northern zone, whereas in the southern part, a lagoon developed. During the final transgression stage and the beginning of the sea level still stand (7500–5500 yr BP), a freshwater marsh formed in the northern zone, and the width of the southern lagoon decreased. Between 5500 and 3000 yr BP, the coastal barrier changed into a delta cusp, a freshwater marsh also appeared in the southern part and the river wandered between the twin marshes. Because of local uplift, previously unknown in this area, part of the floor of the southern marsh emerged, and after 4000 yr BP, both marshes became coastal ponds with prevailing clastic sedimentation. A progressive increment in anthropic forcing on the land took place after 3000 yr BP. The Marica sanctuary was built (7th century BC), and the Roman colony of Minturnae was developed beginning the 3rd century BC. The shallow depth of the ponds prevented their use as harbours, and saltwork plants can be ruled out based on the faunal and palynological data. The ongoing infilling of both ponds was never completed, and their reclamation is still in progress.

Pollen grains in human cytology

Abstract This paper reports on pollen analyses carried out in the course of a ten-year investigation, on many thousands of cytological smears coming from various organs and systems of the human body, and prepared for diagnostic purposes. The frequency and the significance of the pollen records vary according to the specific cytological field taken into account. In the urinary sediment smears, nipple secretions, and needle aspirations the polliniferous smears are very few, and the pollen number per smear is low (max 14 pollen grains, belonging always or mostly to anemophilous species). In these cases, the pollen records evidence the airborne contamination during medical procedures, the same happens with most of cervico-vaginal smears. In some cervico-vaginal smears, the high frequency of pollen grains belonging to pharmaceutical taxa suggests that lavages with vegetable components were used by the patients before undergoing the test. In nasal, bronchial and conjunctival cytology greater amounts of pollinif...

On the Trail of Date-Plum (Diospyros lotus L.) in Italy and Its First Archaeobotanical Evidence

Diospyros lotus L. is an arboreal species native to the Balkans and Caucasus and ranging to the Far East. In Italy, it has been cultivated for centuries and has reverted to the wild state in some regions. During archaeological excavations carried out in the historical center of Modena (northern Italy), two floral calyxes of D. lotus were discovered in a layer dating from the first century ce. These are the first and only remains of D. lotus found in an archaeological context in Italy thus far. The first historical mention of this species as an arboreal plant in Italy occurs in the 1565 edition of Dioscorides’ Commentarii de Medica materia by Pietro Andrea Mattioli. Our research allowed us to establish that the first three Italian herbaria containing samples of D. lotus, dating to the 1551–1570 period, are the Erbario B of the Biblioteca Angelica of Rome, the Erbario Aldrovandi (Bologna) and the Erbario Cesalpino (Florence). However, archaeobotanical remains reveal that the fruits of this species were known during the Roman period, probably arriving in northern Italy as a luxury food owing to their exceptional flavor.Diospyros lotus L. è una specie arborea nativa dei Balcani e del Caucaso, il cui areale si estende fino all’Estremo Oriente, coltivata in Italia da qualche secolo e inselvatichitasi in talune regioni. In occasione di scavi archeologici condotti nel centro storico di Modena, sono stati scoperti due calici fiorali di D. lotus in uno strato risalente al I sec. d.C.: trattasi dei primi e per ora unici reperti di questa specie rinvenuti in Italia in contesti archeologici. Le prime sicure citazioni storiche della sua presenza sono invece molto piú tarde: chi per primo la descrisse come individui arborei presenti sul territorio italiano è Pietro Andrea Mattioli, nell’edizione del 1565 dei suoi Commentarii ai Discorsi di Dioscoride. Dalle ricerche da noi condotte emerge che pressoché contemporanei sono pure gli erbari italiani che per primi includono campioni di D. lotus: l’Erbario B della Biblioteca Angelica di Roma, l’Erbario Aldrovandi (Bologna) e l’Erbario Cesalpino (Firenze), datati fra il 1551 e il 1570. Le testimonianze archeobotaniche rivelano però che almeno i frutti della pianta erano già noti ai Romani ed erano giunti in Italia settentrionale probabilmente come cibo di lusso per il loro particolare gusto.

Palynological Italian Flora: Species of Sicilian Flora: Cards Nos. 92–99

Abstract This further contribution to the Palynological Italian Flora deals with eight entities of the Sicilian Flora, some of which are endemic of the Sicilian floristic sector and some of the Pelagic Maltese one. Palynological cards show pollen features observed by light and scanning electron microscopy. This actuopalynological work has connections with geobotanical researches carried out on the Madonie mountains (Sicily, Italy).

Diversification of Portulaca oleracea L. complex in the Italian peninsula and adjacent islands

Abstract There is an increasing interest in the taxonomy and distribution of the forms of the Portulaca oleracea complex. The information accruing from specimens collected in the Italian peninsula and surrounding islands (Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and Malta) is here described. Eleven morphotypes were recorded: ‘P. cypria’, ‘P. granulatostellulata’, ‘P. nitida’, ‘P. oleracea’, ‘P. papillatostellulata’, ‘P. rausii’, ‘P. sardoa’, ‘P. sativa’, ‘P. sicula’, ‘P. trituberculata’, ‘P. zaffranii’ and a still unclear form Portulaca oleracea f. Three occur in almost all the Italian peninsula and adjacent islands; three are scattered in the Italian peninsula and in the adjacent islands; the remnant have a distribution restricted to the islands such as Sicily and Sardinia. The morphotypes can be divided into two main categories: seeds smooth, without ornamentations; seeds with ornamentations. The morphotypes with ornamentations are more widespread than smooth ones, probably because seed ornamentations play an important role in seed dispersal, which is perhaps mainly anthropochorous given that P. oleracea is a synanthropic species that can tolerate mechanical disturbance. There are cases of multiple occurrence, as evidenced by the presence of different morphotypes in some of the sites. Such populations can count up to five morphotypes growing together. Seven morphotypes were here recorded from Malta; they are all hexaploid, even those which in other areas are tetraploid.