Research Article |
Corresponding author: Lorenzo Peruzzi ( lorenzo.peruzzi@unipi.it ) Academic editor: Fabrizio Bartolucci
© 2023 Lorenzo Peruzzi.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Peruzzi L (2023) The vascular flora of Empoli (Tuscany, central Italy). Italian Botanist 15: 21-33. https://doi.org/10.3897/italianbotanist.15.101748
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A list of the vascular flora occurring in the municipality of Empoli (province of Firenze, Tuscany) is provided. The list is based on a bibliographic analysis and on field studies carried out in the years 2018–2022. A total of 757 specific and subspecific taxa currently occur in the study area (including 117 aliens), plus 51 cultivated taxa. Azolla filiculoides Lam., Prunus cerasifera Ehrh., and Veronica filiformis Sm. should be considered as naturalized aliens in Tuscany.
alien species, biodiversity, endemics, floristic data, Italy, phytogeography, Tuscany
A flora is a useful source of information for biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies (
The territory in the municipality of Empoli (Tuscany, central Italy; Fig.
Localisaton and delimitation of the municipality of Empoli (province of Firenze, Tuscany, central Italy). The dominance of cultivated and urbanized areas is evident. The image (2019 AGEA orthophoto) was obtained by means of Cartoteca del Geoscopio della Regione Toscana (http://www502.regione.toscana.it/geoscopio/cartoteca.html).
The aim of this study is to present a complete and updated floristic inventory of the vascular flora of Empoli, in the framework of a series of contributions whose goal is to improve the floristic knowledge of Tuscany (Pierini et al. 2008;
The municipality of Empoli (province of Firenze) lies at an elevation between 22 and 205 m a.s.l., and covers an area of 62.28 km2. The Arno river constitutes its northern administrative limit, while the western limit is the Elsa river. Less obvious are the eastern and southern limits, with the municipalities of Montelupo Fiorentino, Montespertoli, and Castelfiorentino. From a geological point of view, the hills are made by middle Pliocenic and Pleistocenic sediments (clays, conglomerates, sands), while the plain by Holocenic alluvial sediments (
The hills have a temperate bioclimate and belong to the preapenninic neutrobasiphilous Turkey oak vegetation series of central and northern Italy (Lonicero xylostei-Querco pubescentis sigmetum), while the plain shows a temperate transition towards a Mediterranean bioclimate, belonging to the hygrophilous geosigmetum of the riparian vegetation of the Italian peninsula (Salicion albae, Populion albae, Alno-Ulmion) (
Besides the analysis of the few literature sources available (see Introduction), field investigations were carried out in the last 20 years, more intensively in the years 2018–2022. The most interesting findings were published during the course of this research (
Nomenclature and circumscription of the taxa follows
To calculate the expected number of species/subspecies, genera, families, and aliens we followed the approach published by
The expected number of species/subspecies, genera, families, and alien taxa was 834, 474, 101, and 38, respectively. A total of 757 specific and subspecific taxa were documented for the study area, including 117 aliens. Cultivated plants are 51. These taxa belong to 462 genera and 108 families.
Three families alone cover more than 30% of the total vascular flora (Asteraceae 99 taxa, Fabaceae 77, and Poaceae 71). The most represented genera are Trifolium (17 taxa), Lathyrus (14 taxa), Crepis (9 taxa), and Allium (7 taxa).
The biological spectrum highlights that hemicryptophytes (34%) and therophytes (32%) are the most represented life forms, followed by phanerophytes (15%), geophytes (14%), chamaephytes (3%), and hydrophytes (2%). As far as the chorological spectrum is concerned, the most frequent chorotypes are Mediterranean (35%) and Eurosiberian (25%), with 8% of Eurosiberian-Mediterranean taxa. A wider distribution is shown by 17% of taxa, while Italian endemics are only 1%. On the contrary, aliens are 14% of the established flora.
The Italian endemics are seven: Artemisia caerulescens subsp. cretacea (Fiori) Brilli-Catt. & Gubellini, Crocus biflorus Mill., Daucus broteroi Ten., Ophrys classica Devillers-Tersch. & Devillers, Polygala flavescens subsp. flavescens, P. vulgaris subsp. valdarnensis (Fiori) Arrigoni, and Scabiosa uniseta Savi.
Further 23 taxa are of phytogeographical interest. Among them, there are species which usually grow at higher elevations, such as Lilium martagon L., Physospermum cornubiense (L.) DC., and Scilla bifolia L., and others that mark their innermost distribution in Tuscany, as Asphodelus fistulosus L., Imperata cylindrica (L.) Raeusch, Ophrys speculum Link, and Sisymbrium irio L. (this latter species representing a new record for the province of Firenze). Other species rare in Tuscany and found in the study area are: Allium pallens L., Bolboschoenus glaucus (Lam.) S.G.Sm., Butomus umbellatus L., Cyperus flavescens L., C. michelianus (L.) Delile, Lathyrus tuberosus L., Lycopus exaltatus L.f., Lythrum tribracteatum Spreng., Eriolobus florentinus (Zuccagni) Stapf, Melampyrum cristatum subsp. cristatum, Onopordum acanthium subsp. acanthium, Rorippa palustris (L.) Besser, Securigera cretica (L.) Lassen, Spirodela polyrhiza (L.) Schleid., Taraxacum noterophilum Kirschner, Sonck & Štěpánek, Tripleurospermum inodorum (L.) Sch.Bip., and Tulipa sylvestris L.
The most frequently observed species are: Plantago lanceolata L. (117 records), Daucus carota subsp. carota (110), Trifolium nigrescens subsp. nigrescens (107), Cichorium intybus L. (98), Dittrichia viscosa subsp. viscosa (93), Acer campestre L. (73), Avena barbata Pott ex Link and Picris hieracioides subsp. hieracioides (72), Rubus ulmifolius Schott (69), and Convolvulus arvensis L. (64) among natives; Artemisia verlotiorum Lamotte (194), Arundo donax L. (141), Robinia pseudoacacia L. (70), Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers. (56), and Erigeron canadensis L. (43) among aliens; Vitis vinifera L. (97), Olea europaea subsp. europaea (60), Cupressus sempervirens L. (47), Pinus pinea L. (29), and Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench (21) among cultivated plants.
Among alien taxa, 28 are invasive and some of them are listed in European regulations UE 2016/1141, 2017/1263 and 2019/1262: Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. and Ludwigia peploides subsp. montevidensis (Spreng.) P.H.Raven, both massively occurring along the banks of the Arno river, and Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle.
Eight species recorded by previous authors have not been found, and could be possibly extinct at the local level: Carex caryophyllea Latourr., Epipactis helleborine (L.) Crantz, Hippocrepis biflora Spreng., Isolepis cernua (Vahl) Roem. & Schult., Persicaria amphibia (L.) Delarbre, Pyrus cordata Desv., Roemeria hispida (Lam.) Stace, and Salvinia natans (L.) All.
With respect to the predicted richness based on species-area relationships, the number of families is just slightly above the expected value, the number of genera is 3% less, while the number of species/subspecies is 10% below the theoretical prediction. This could be explained both by undersampling (see below) or by the scarce environmental variability/high overbuilding of the study area. On the contrary, the number of alien taxa is 207% above the expected value, fully confirming the high human impact on this territory. Indeed, more that 60% of the flora was observed in fields, meadows, olive orchards, and vineyards.
The Virtual Floristic List calculated on all available records for Empoli and surrounding territories includes 789 taxa, of which 619 show a percentage of spatio-temporal probability of occurrence above 95%, while 18 are below the 10% (Suppl. material
The Map of Relative Floristic Ignorance highlights the cells hosting the relictual forest areas as the best known on floristic grounds (Fig.
Maps of Relative Floristic Ignorance of the municipality of Empoli, computed with a cellsize = 1000 m and a temporal coefficient tau = 20. The colour scale represents values of Index of Relative Floristic Ignorance (IRFI), ranging from 0 (blue) to a maximum value (red) representing the cells showing lowest and highest relative ignorance, respectively. Coordinates are projected in EPSG 3035: ETRS89/ETRS-LAEA.
On phytogeographical grounds, the area clearly shows a Mediterranean affinity, while the life forms are more suggestive of a temperate bioclimate. A similar, but opposite, situation was observed in the geographically close hills of Montalbano (
The species showing some conservation interest are 42, among which the most important is certainly Butomus umbellatus, vulnerable at national level (
The relictual forest areas still occurring in Empoli are of special conservation interest. Indeed, in these small areas, more than half of the plants known for the studied territory are found, including interesting species such as Barlia robertiana (Loisel.) Greuter, Eriolobus florentinus, Galanthus nivalis L., Hypericum australe Ten., Lilium martagon, Melampyrum cristatum subsp. cristatum, Physospermum cornubiense, Polygala flavescens subsp. flavescens, and Polygala vulgaris subsp. valdarnensis.
Finally, concerning aliens, based on their occurrence in this flora, the regional alien status for Tuscany of Azolla filiculoides Lam., Prunus cerasifera Ehrh., and Veronica filiformis Sm. should be changed from casual (
Marco D’Antraccoli (Botanic Garden and Museum, University of Pisa) is gratefully acknowledged for having calculated the SAR predictions, the Map of Relative Floristic Ignorance, and the Virtual Floristic List. The financial support by Fondazione per la Flora Italiana for the publication fee is also gratefully acknowledged.
Floristic list and records
Data type: PDF file
Explanation note: 1. Floristic list and records. 2. References cited only in the supplementary materials.
Virtual floristic list
Data type: Excel .xslx file
Explanation note: Virtual Floristic List, elaborated according to D’Antraccoli (2022a).