Our study aimed at clarifying the current and previous occurrence, distribution and status (native vs. introduced) of Euphorbia lathyris L., the caper spurge, in S Italy and Sicily: the most recent Italian floras and checklists, in fact, do not report this species for this area. To do this, a multi-disciplinary research was carried out taking into account not only botanical but also ethnobotanical and dialectological sources and a survey of the main herbaria of central and southern Italy. Our results point out that E. lathyris was much more frequent, well-known and commonly used in the whole southern Italy and in Sicily until 2-3 centuries ago, and that it probably experienced isolated cases of short naturalization at that time. Nowadays the caper spurge still occurs with few, small and scattered populations only in Molise and Calabria.
Da comune e utilizzata a rara e dimenticata: distribuzione passata e presente dell'archeofita Euphorbia lathyris L. (Euphorbiaceae) in Italia meridionale e Sicilia. Il nostro studio mira a chiarire la presenza attuale e passata, la distribuzione e lo status (nativa/introdotta) di Euphorbia lathyris L., nota col nome volgare di Catapuzia, in Italia meridionale e Sicilia: le più recenti flore italiane, infatti, non segnalano questa specie per tale area. A tale scopo, è stata condotta una ricerca multidisciplinare che ha tenuto conto non solo delle fonti botaniche ma anche di quelle etnobotaniche e dialettologiche, nonché di un sondaggio dei principali erbari del centro e sud Italia. I nostri risultati evidenziano come E. lathyris sia stata molto più frequente, ben nota e comunemente usata in tutta l'Italia meridionale e in Sicilia fino a 2-3 secoli fa, e che probabilmente essa abbia dato vita a casi isolati di breve naturalizzazione in quel periodo. Attualmente la Catapuzia si presenta ancora con poche, piccole e sparse popolazioni solo in Molise ed in Calabria.
From common and used to rare and forgotten: past and present distribution of the archaeophyte Euphorbia lathyris L. (Euphorbiaceae) in S Italy and Sicily
SALVATORE PASTA;
2019
Abstract
Our study aimed at clarifying the current and previous occurrence, distribution and status (native vs. introduced) of Euphorbia lathyris L., the caper spurge, in S Italy and Sicily: the most recent Italian floras and checklists, in fact, do not report this species for this area. To do this, a multi-disciplinary research was carried out taking into account not only botanical but also ethnobotanical and dialectological sources and a survey of the main herbaria of central and southern Italy. Our results point out that E. lathyris was much more frequent, well-known and commonly used in the whole southern Italy and in Sicily until 2-3 centuries ago, and that it probably experienced isolated cases of short naturalization at that time. Nowadays the caper spurge still occurs with few, small and scattered populations only in Molise and Calabria.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
