Corresponding author: Adriano Stinca (
Academic editor: Gianniantonio Domina
In order to improve the floristic knowledge of the Italian territory, we report the inventory of the taxa collected during the annual field trip of the working group for Floristics, Systematics and Evolution of the Italian Botanical Society held in 2015 in eastern Irpinia and Vulture-Melfese area (South Italy). The investigated territories are located in southern Apennines, along the border between the Campania and Basilicata administrative regions. These areas are scarcely known in terms of vascular flora. The floristic samplings were performed in 19 sites selected as representative of the local environmental diversity as regards to climate, litho-morphology and land-use.
The research led to the identification of 4,137 specimens of vascular plants, belonging to 815 species and subspecies, 399 genera, and 85 families. Among these taxa, 42 were endemic to Italy, 38 were included in the IUCN Red List of the Italian Flora, 28 were alien and 5 were cryptogenic in Campania and/or Basilicata administrative regions. Two taxa,
Stinca A, Chianese G, D’Auria G, Fascetti S, Ravo M, Romano VA, Salerno G, Astuti G, Bartolucci F, Bernardo L, Bonari G, Bouvet D, Cancellieri L, Carli E, Caruso G, Catalano I, Cennamo GD, Ciaschetti G, Conti F, Di Pietro R, Fortini P, Gangale C, Lapenna MR, Lattanzi E, Marcucci R, Peccenini S, Pennesi R, Perrino EV, Peruzzi L, Roma-Marzio F, Scoppola A, Tilia A, Villani M, Rosati L (2019) Contribution to the floristic knowledge of eastern Irpinia and Vulture-Melfese area (Campania and Basilicata, southern Italy). Italian Botanist 8: 1–16.
The floristic knowledge of a territory is of considerable importance for scientific purposes and for conservation (
The study area includes territories located within the border between the Campania and the Basilicata administrative regions in southern Italy (Fig.
Location of study area and sampling sites (for details, see Suppl. materials
Based on meteorological data retrieved from the station located at Monticchio Bagni (Rionero in Vulture, province of Potenza, 652 m a.s.l., Suppl. material
The substrates of the study area are mainly composed of pelitic sediments (Flysch Rosso, Flysch Galestrino) and marginally of arenaceous sediments (Flysch Numidico), shaped in a hilly-mountainous landscape deeply dissected by the Ofanto River (
The vascular flora of Irpinia and surrounding areas, was only partially explored between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century by
The research was coordinated by group of organisers (A. Stinca, L. Rosati, G. Chianese, G. D’Auria, S. Fascetti, M. Ravo, V. A. Romano and G. Salerno) who draw up the final floristic list with the contribution of all participants to the study. In order to maximize the identifiable taxonomic diversity within the surveyed area, 19 sites of collection were selected as representative of the local diversity in terms of climate, litho-morphology, and land-use (Suppl. material
In the floristic list, taxa are alphabetically ordered. Nomenclature and taxa delimitation follow the checklist of Italian vascular flora (
After the research, 4,137 specimens of vascular plants were identified, including 6
Forty-two taxa (5.2% of the total flora detected, Table
List of Italian endemic taxa surveyed in the eastern Irpinia and Vulture-Melfese area.
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Five taxa (0.6% of the total flora),
Forty-three units (5.3% of the total flora) were found to be new floristic records. In particular,
As reported below, 18 and 15 taxa were found to be new for the regional flora of Campania (Table
List of taxa new for Campania.
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List of taxa new for Basilicata.
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This research also allowed to confirm 10 taxa for the flora of Campania (Table
List of taxa confirmed for Campania.
Data obtained shows that the eastern Irpinia and Vulture-Melfese area hosts a rich and interesting vascular flora. Except for
Among the non-native plants, 18 taxa were neophyte and 8 were considered invasive in at least one of the administrative regions considered (
A small population of
In addition to the 11 taxa that we confirmed for Campania (Table
Some of the specimens collected in the study area require additional investigations aimed to clarify their taxonomic status. For example, the complex of
In recent years, especially in Campania, some researchers have focused their attention on the territories that are not well known from a floristic point of view, such as the lowlands and urbanized areas (e.g.,
We are very grateful to: E. Banfi, L. Cecchi, G. Domina, G. Gottschlich and E. Nardi for the revisions of critical specimes; M. Lorito, N. Madonna and S. Mazzoleni for hosting the workshop held at Portici in the Library of Agriculture and Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Naples Federico II; R. Motti and R. Spicciarelli for guiding us in the Botanical Garden of Portici and Grotticelle Oriented Nature Reserve of Rionero in Vulture, respectively; A. Ferretti, U. Silvestri, A.G. Stinca and C. Verdoliva for their assistance during the workshop held at Portici; P. Di Gala for the kind hospitality at the Hotel Ristorante “Lo Smeraldo” in Aquilonia.
Supplementary figures and tables 1–8
species data