|
South Apennine Mixed Montane Forests
The South Apennine mixed montane forests is an ecoregion in the southern Apennine Mountains of southern Italy and Sicily. It has a Mediterranean climate, and is in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. This ecoregion is restricted to the high mountain massifs of the regions of Basilicata, Calabria and the island of Sicily. Climate The climate of the ecoregion changes with altitude. The lower mountain slopes have a warm and sub-humid climate, with an average annual temperature of 14 to 17º C. High elevations are cooler and more humid, with annual average temperatures of 9 to 13º C and over 2000 mm of precipitation annually. The mountain summits in southern Calabria and northeastern Sicily are frequently covered in dense fog. Winters at high elevation are cold, with abundant snowfall. Flora The ecoregion's wide altitudinal range results in several forest zones. Lowest elevations At lowest elevations the forests are characterized by the sclerophyllous everg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pollino National Park
Pollino National Park (Italian: ''Parco Nazionale del Pollino'') is an Italian national park in the southern peninsula, in the provinces of Cosenza, Matera and Potenza. Its named from the homonymous mountain massif Pollino. The park is home of the oldest European tree, a Heldreich's pine estimated 1,230 years old and the symbol of the park is the rare Bosnian pine tree. Since November 2015, with the inclusion in the global list of geoparks by UNESCO, the Pollino Park is considered a World Heritage Site. Encompassing a total of 88,650 ha in the Lucanian side (''Muro lucano'') and 103,915 in the Calabrian one is the largest park in the country covering 1,925.65 square kilometers and among the 50 largest in the world. The common beech is the park's most prevalent tree and the park is also home to a variety of important medicinal herbs. Towns with interesting sights include Rotonda, Castrovillari, Morano Calabro (convent of Colloreto), Laino Borgo, Laino Castello, Morman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Suber
''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring and as the cores of cricket balls. It is native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa. In the Mediterranean basin the tree is an ancient species with fossil remnants dating back to the Tertiary period. It endures drought and makes little demand on the soil quality and is regarded as a defence against desertification. Cork oak forests are home to a multitude of animal and plant species. Since cork is increasingly being displaced by other materials as a bottle cap, these forests are at risk as part of the cultural landscape and animal species such as the Iberian lynx are threatened with extinction. Description General appearance and bark The cork oak grows as an evergreen tree, reaching an average height of or in rare cases up to 25 m and a tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abies Alba
''Abies alba'', the European silver fir or silver fir, is a fir native to the mountains of Europe, from the Pyrenees north to Normandy, east to the Alps and the Carpathians, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and south to Italy, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Albania and northern Greece; it is also commonly grown on Christmas tree plantations in the North East region of North America spanning New England in the US to the Maritime provinces of Canada. Description ''Abies alba'' is a large evergreen coniferous tree growing to tall and with a trunk diameter up to . The largest measured tree was tall and had a trunk diameter of . It occurs at altitudes of (mainly over ), on mountains with rainfall over per year. The leaves are needle-like, flattened, long and wide by thick, glossy dark green above, and with two greenish-white bands of stomata below. The leaf is usually slightly notched at the tip. The cones are long and broad, with about 150-200 scales, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pollino Mountains
The Pollino (Italian: ''Massiccio del Pollino'') is a massif in the southern Apennines, on the border between Basilicata and Calabria, southern Italy. It became part of the Pollino National Park in 1992. The main peaks include Monte Pollino (2,248 m) and the massif's high point, Serra Dolcedorme (2,267 m), which overlooks the plain of Sibari. Geology Formed from limestone, the Pollino is the highest area in the range and erosion of the limestone, especially on the Calabrian side, has created numerous grottoes, such as the Romito grottoes, in which Palaeolithic petroglyphs have been found. Canyons have also been carved into the limestone, such as the canyon created by the Raganello stream. Wildlife The Pollino is home to a flourishing fauna and flora. Woods dominated by chestnut, beech and the rare Bosnian pine, which is the park's symbol, cover especially the highest peaks; animal species include the Italian wolf, eagle owl, roe deer and the rare golden eagle. See a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinus Heldreichii
''Pinus heldreichii'' (synonym ''P. leucodermis''; family Pinaceae), the Bosnian pine or Heldreich’s pine, is a species of pine native to mountainous areas of the Balkans and southern Italy. Description It is an evergreen tree up to in height, and in trunk diameter. It is a member of the hard pine group, ''Pinus'' subgenus ''Pinus'', with leaves ('needles') in fascicles (bundles) of two, with a persistent sheath. They are long and thick. Cones are long, with thin, fragile scales; they are dark blue-purple before maturation, turning brown when ripe about 16–18 months after pollination. The long seeds have a wing and are wind- dispersed. File:BaikushevaMura1300.jpg, trunk File:Atlas roslin pl Sosna bośniacka 5330 7596.jpg, New growth File:2016.04.12 18.17.31 DSC03330 - Flickr - andrey zharkikh.jpg, Leaves File:Zapfen der Pinus heldreichii IMG 4547.jpg, cones Longevity A tree in Northern Greece was dated as 1,075 years old in 2016. What is believed to be the olde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betula Aetniensis
''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found at higher altitudes. Its range extends into Siberia, China, and southwest Asia in the mountains of northern Turkey, the Caucasus, and northern Iran. It has been introduced into North America, where it is known as the European white birch or weeping birch and is considered invasive in some states in the United States and parts of Canada. The tree can also be found in more temperate regions of Australia. The silver birch is a medium-sized deciduous tree that owes its common name to the white peeling bark on the trunk. The twigs are slender and often pendulous and the leaves are roughly triangular with doubly serrate margins and turn yellow and brown in autumn before they fall. The flowers are catkins and the light, winged seeds get widely sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Etna
Mount Etna, or simply Etna ( it, Etna or ; scn, Muncibbeḍḍu or ; la, Aetna; grc, Αἴτνα and ), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina and Catania. It lies above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate. It is one of the tallest active volcanoes in Europe, and the tallest peak in Italy south of the Alps with a current height (July 2021) of , though this varies with summit eruptions. Over a six-month period in 2021, Etna erupted so much volcanic material that its height increased by approximately , and the southeastern crater is now the tallest part of the volcano. Etna covers an area of with a basal circumference of . This makes it by far the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. Only Mount Teide on Tenerife in the Canary Islands surpasses it in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinus Nigra
''Pinus nigra'', the Austrian pine or black pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across Southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica and Cyprus, as well as Crimea and in the high mountains of Northwest Africa. Description ''Pinus nigra'' is a large coniferous evergreen tree, growing to high at maturity and spreading to wide. The bark is gray to yellow-brown, and is widely split by flaking fissures into scaly plates, becoming increasingly fissured with age. The leaves ('needles') are thinner and more flexible in western populations. The ovulate and pollen cones appear from May to June. The mature seed cones are (rarely to 11 cm) long, with rounded scales; they ripen from green to pale gray-buff or yellow-buff in September to November, about 18 months after pollination. The seeds are dark gray, long, with a yellow-buff wing long; they are wind-dispersed when the cones open from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castanea Sativa
''Castanea sativa'', the sweet chestnut, Spanish chestnut or just chestnut, is a species of tree in the family Fagaceae, native to Southern Europe and Asia Minor, and widely cultivated throughout the temperate world. A substantial, long-lived deciduous tree, it produces an edible seed, the chestnut, which has been used in cooking since ancient times. Description ''C. sativa'' attains a height of with a trunk often in diameter. Around 20 trees are recorded with diameters over including one in diameter at breast height. A famous ancient tree known as the Hundred Horse Chestnut in Sicily was historically recorded at in diameter (although it has split into multiple trunks above ground). The bark often has a net-shaped (retiform) pattern with deep furrows or fissures running spirally in both directions up the trunk. The trunk is mostly straight with branching starting at low heights. The oblong-lanceolate, boldly toothed leaves are long and broad. The flowers of both sexe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Frainetto
''Quercus frainetto'' (syn. ''Quercus conferta'' Kit., ''Quercus farnetto'' Ten.), commonly known as the Hungarian oak or Italian oak, is a species of oak, native to southeastern Europe (parts of Italy, the Balkans, parts of Hungary, Romania) and Turkey; it is classified in ''Quercus'' sect. ''Mesobalanus''. Description ''Quercus frainetto'' is a large deciduous tree, reaching heights of tall by broad, with a trunk girth of nearly . The bark is light gray in colour and cracks into small square cracking plates. The buds are large, long and pointed, shiny russet or light brown in colour with minute tomentum. The twigs are stout and covered with russet upward pointed hairs. The leaves are large, long, occasionally up to , variable in shape, divided into 6–10 very deep parallel lobes which are usually divided into sublobes. The leaf stalks are usually short, , rarely to 22 mm, long. The leaves are widest close to the apex, which is broad and short pointed. The base of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Cerris
''Quercus cerris'', the Turkey oak or Austrian oak, is an oak native to south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is the type species of ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris'', a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, bristle-tipped leaf lobes, and acorns that usually mature in 18 months. Description ''Quercus cerris'' is a large deciduous tree growing to tall with a trunk up to in diameter. The bark is dark gray and deeply furrowed. On mature trees, the bark fissures are often streaked orange near the base of the trunk. The glossy leaves are long and 3–5 cm wide, with 6–12 triangular lobes on each side; the regularity of the lobing varies greatly, with some trees having very regular lobes, others much less regular. The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins, maturing about 18 months after pollination; the fruit is a large acorn, long and 2 cm broad, bicoloured with an orange basal half grading to a green-brown tip; the acorn cup ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ostrya Carpinifolia
''Ostrya carpinifolia'', the European hop-hornbeam, is a tree in the family Betulaceae. It is the only species of the genus ''Ostrya'' that is native to Europe. The specific epithet ''carpinifolia'' means "hornbeam-leaved", from , the Latin word for "hornbeam". Distribution ''Ostrya carpinifolia'' is found in Lebanon, Italy, France, Austria, Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, southern Switzerland and Turkey. It is found in the medium elevations, in southern Italy and Sicily, in the South Apennine mixed montane forests ecoregion of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Biome. Description ''Ostrya carpinifolia'' is a broadleaf deciduous tree, that can reach up to . It has a conical or irregular crown and a scaly, rough bark, and alternate and double-toothed birch-like leaves 3–10 cm long. The flowers are produced in spring, with male catkins long and female catkins long. The fruit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
%2C_Italy.jpg "Click for more on -> Abies Alba")
