The tradition of floristic studies in Italy has made it possible to obtain a good knowledge of plant diversity both on a national and regional scale. However, the lack of knowledge for some areas, advances in plant systematics and human activities related to globalization, highlight the need for further studies aimed at improving floristic knowledge. In this paper, based on fieldwork and herbaria and literature surveys, we update the knowledge on the Italian vascular flora and analyze the floristic similarities between the administrative regions. Four taxa, all exotic, were recorded for the first time in Italy and Europe. In detail, Elaeodendron croceum, Kalanchoë blossfeldiana, and Sedum spathulifolium var. spathulifolium were found as casual aliens, while Oxalis brasiliensis was reported as historical record based on some herbarium specimens. Furthermore, Kalanchoë laxiflora was confirmed as a casual alien species for Italy and Europe. Status changes for some taxa were proposed at both national and regional levels, as well as many taxa were reported as new or confirmed at the regional level. Currently the Italian vascular flora comprises 9150 taxa of which 7547 are native (of which 1598 are Italian endemics) and 1603 are exotic at the national level. The multivariate analysis of updated floristic data on a regional scale showed a clear distribution along the latitudinal gradient, in accordance with the natural geographical location of the regions in Italy. This pattern of plants distribution was not affected by the introduction of alien species. Despite some taxonomic and methodological issues which are still open, the data obtained confirm the important role of floristic investigations in the field and in herbaria, as well as the collaborative approach among botanists, in order to improve the knowledge of the Italian and European vascular flora.

In the summer of 2021, enormous wildfires in the Mediterranean eliminated huge areas of mainly coniferous forest, destroyed adjacent settlements and claimed the lives of many people. The fires indicate effects of climate change and expose consequences of rural demographic changes, deficits in regional and touristic development planning and shortcomings in forest policy. This forum article highlights the dimensions of the problem, calls for a paradigm shift and shows solutions. Land abandonment, woody plant encroachment and non-reflective afforestation are leading to increasing amounts of combustible biomass. To prevent disastrous fires in future, fundamental changes in tree species composition, forest structure and management are essential. Plantations of reseeding pines are to be substituted by spacious or periodically open woodlands of long-lived trees with resprouting capacity such as Mediterranean oaks. Biomass-reducing practices including wood-pasture have to be revived in rural and peri-urban areas. Exemplary fire-resistant multifunctional oak woodlands occur throughout the Mediterranean. Urgent and medium-term measures in the burnt areas include promoting natural ecosystem regeneration, developing regionalized seed banks and nurseries to support native genetic resources, fostering vegetation mosaics of groves and multiple-use open and coppice woodland maintained by traditional practices, and in general forest management aiming at fuel biomass reduction and a policy counteracting land abandonment.

Species identification within the species complex of Q. pubescens is a well-known taxonomic challenge among European botanists. Some of the specific pubescent oak binomials currently accepted in various European floras and checklists were originally described in Sicily and southern Calabria. As a consequence, several species belonging to the pubescent oaks group (Q. pubescens, Q. amplifolia, Q. congesta, Q. dalechampii, Q. leptobalana and Q. virgiliana) are reported in the taxonomic and phytosociological literature. To verify whether it was possible to associate a diverse set of morphological characters with each of these different taxa, thirteen natural populations of pubescent oak from Sicily and southern Calabria were sampled. A total of 391 trees, 3,887 leaves and 1,047 fruits were collected. Overall, 28 morphological characters of oak leaves and fruits were statistically analysed using univariate and multivariate procedures. The results showed that neither the groups of morphological diversity identified by cluster analysis, nor those obtained by our expert identification through the use of analytical keys, matched with the current taxonomical frameworks as proposed by the most recent floras and checklists. Nearly all of the morphological characters considered displayed a more or less continuous trend of variation, both within and among populations. In the light of these findings it seems unlikely that more than one biological species of pubescent oak occurs in Sicily and southern Calabria.

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Campanula versicolor is a constituent of the Campanula pyramidalis complex, distributed in the central and southern Balkan Peninsula with a small disjunct range in SE Italy. The taxonomy of the broadly defined C. versicolor was controversial in the past due to high morphological variability of the populations across the range. We used microsatellite DNA data along with morphometric analyses on an extensive population sampling covering the entire range to reconstruct the relationships among populations of the intricate C. versicolor s.l. Based on the results three distinct entities can be distinguished, circumscribed here on the subspecies level, with newly established combinations: C. versicolor subsp. versicolor, C. versicolor subsp. korabensis and C. versicolor subsp. tenorei. We propose a new taxonomic treatment of C. versicolor s.l. with description, distribution and habitat data for each of the subspecies and a key for their identification.

Molecular diversity analysis of deciduous pubescent oaks was conducted for populations from Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia. The aims of this study were twofold. First, to provide data on the genetic diversity of pubescent oaks from an understudied area which currently exhibits one of the highest concentrations of pubescent oak species in Europe. Second, to verify if these groups of oaks are genetically distinct and if their identification is in accordance with the current taxonomic classification. Molecular analyses of leaf material of 480 trees from seventeen populations belonging to putatively different pubescent oak species (Quercus amplifolia, Q. congesta, Q. dalechampii, Q. ichnusae, Q. leptobalanos, Q. virgiliana) were performed. Twelve gene-based Expressed Sequence Tag-Simple Sequence Repeat markers were selected, and genetic diversity and differentiation were calculated. The results showed relatively high values of allelic richness, heterozygosity and number of private alleles for the populations investigated. A weak but positive correlation between geographical and genetic distance was detected. Genetic assignment (STRUCTURE) and principle coordinate analyses exhibited a weak separation into two genetic groups which, however, did not correspond to the taxonomic, chorological and ecological features of the populations investigated. Sardinian populations formed one group which was separated from the Calabrian and Sicilian populations. In light of the results obtained, the taxonomic classification for the pubescent white oaks currently reported in the major Italian floras and checklists for the study area was not confirmed by molecular analyses.

The Euganean Hills are a well-known refugee site for thermophilous woody flora in northern Italy. Among the species recorded here, there is Quercus dalechampii. The Euganean Hills are the only northern Italy site where the occurrence of this oak species is considered. The aim of this paper was to verify the presence of Q. dalechampii in the study area and to select possible diagnostic morphological traits that are usable to distinguish it from Q. petraea and Q. pubescens. Forest stands dominated by Q. petraea, Q. pubescens, and the presumed Q. dalechampii were sampled using the phytosociological approach to highlight their ecological features. Leaf and fruit material from 104 oak individuals was analysed from a macro-morphological and micro-morphological point of view. Leaf shape was also analysed using the geometric morphometric approach. All multivariate analysis procedures applied on the matrices of leaf and fruit traits highlighted two main clusters of morphological diversity. One was restricted to Q. pubescens individuals, and the other one was a mix of Q. petraea and presumed Q. dalechampii individuals. According to the twig and leaf trichome traits, all presumed Q. dalechampii individuals were classified as belonging to the Q. petraea collective group. Morphological differences between Q. petraea and presumed Q. dalechampii were considered not significant. In conclusion, the occurrence of a third oak species, in addition to Q. petraea and Q. pubescens, was not confirmed for the study area by the results of this paper. Graphic abstract

In the present paper a phytosociological study on the dry grassland communities identified in the western sector of the Murgia Plateau (Murgia delle Gravine) and in the Lucanian badlands territory is presented. Forty vegetation releves were carried out using the Braun-Blanquet phytosociological approach. Two new associations characterized by a therophytic dominance, namely Lysimachio foeminae-Atractylidetum cancellatae and Campanulo erini-Micromerietum microphyllae, are described and discussed from a syntaxonomic and biogeographic viewpoint. In addition, new phytosociological data concerning the Petrosedum ochroleucum communities developed on limestone outcrops, the perennial Hyparrhenia hirta steppe-like grasslands of the low-altitude areas of the Murgia hills and the small-size Brachypodium distachyum therophytic communities are presented.