Flora e Fauna
Alterations caused by fires have modified luckily only in a small part the rich self-sown vegetation of Argentario, whose major peculiarities are the great variety of species belonging to Mediterranean bush and a wide woodland uncommon in coastal or insular areas. During last century, the promontory woodland has grown more and more as a consequence of the desertion of the farming but mainly this is due to the disappearance of large grazing zones. Thanks to these social and economic changes, Mediterranean bush has gained once again of many agricultural and farming areas above all in the N-E side of the promontory. Unfortunately, in many locations there are still tangible evidences of the exploitation local people mad of their often unfruitful land.
In these areas however, the vegetation is growing wild once again despite the presence of seeded plants. In fact, the cultivations of old olive trees (Olea europea) and grapevines (Vitis vinifera) by now have grown mixing and hiding themselves within the bush. The plant of olive tree growing wild moreover is very much like the wild oleaster (Olea oleaster), while the vine plants imitate the small and thick foliaging of the self-sown vines in addiction to the lack of growth of bunches of grapes. The first colonizers of these abandoned lands are the bramble (Rubus), the traveller’s joy (Clematis vitalba and Clematis flammula) and the wild roses such as the dogrose, which form an intricate vegetal screen. But most important, in these areas in the period from March to May, we can find many varieties of wild orchids such as Ophrys speculum, Ophrys exaltata and Ophrys bertoloniiformis, one of the rarest wild orchids in Italy. As time goes by, a wide range of low bush grows in the middle of the thorny labyrinth, and we will now see brooms (Spartum junceum and Calicotome villosa), rock roses (Cistus sp.), heather (Erica sp.), that constitute the first steps to a luxuriant Mediterranean bush. But there come also arbutus trees (Arbutus unedo) and ilex trees (Quercus ilex) giving place to the birth of a new wood. Unfortunately, if these areas have gone through a fire, the bush slopes down to a king of steppe.
Then if abandoned areas are growing wild and chaotic, all the other wild zones covered up by a self-sown vegetation are easier to deal with, and there it is quite simple to see how many kinds of vegetation we can find.
Garigue is a range of vegetation quite similar to steppe, but different in what concerns a low presence of herbaceous plants versus a bigger quantity of shrubs. The presence on the ground of garigue is not continuous, as it is very often alternated with rocks or nude soil.
The average height of garigue is generally about 80 cm. And the typical plants and bushes are Helicrysum italicum, Pistacia, Cistus salviefolius but the most known are lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis). Garigue can be found mainly in limestone soils, therefore it is to be found in the Southern side of the promontory, in Capo d'Uomo zone.
We can find undergrowth when the ground comes to be all covered up by low bushes and plants. According to the different expositions and locations and to the dominating species, we can have many different ranges of undergrowth; in Argentario we have mainly Mediterranean-evergreen bushes, with a neat prevalence of broad-leaved plants.
Characteristic of undergrowth are two kinds of rock rose, Cistus monpeliensis and Cistus salviefolius, but we still find rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and broom (Spartium junceum), forming all together a compact vegetal carpet of 150 cm. in height rich in coloured and scented flowers.
Where the soil is rich in limestone and has a good fertility, undergrowth is dominated by Calicotome villosa, an annual shrubby pulse vegetable with membranous texture-leaves. In Argentario undergrowth is widespread in Punta Ciana, Poggio Terrarossa and Poggio Pozzarello.
In the high bush we are at the presence of vegetal formations quite near to a real wood. The average height of the high bush goes from 3 m. up to 6 m. and it is composed a few and peculiar species. Here in the high bush no fires have destroyed vegetation for a very long time so the Mediterranean wood is at its maximum level. Ilex trees are dominant together with arbutus, manna ash and heather. In the brushwood is it easy to find butcher’s broom, ivy, cyclamen or madder, in general all the vegetation well adapting itself to scarce light. Ilex woods can be found in the Eastern side of Argentario, while on the E-NE coast a different kind of high bush has gained possession of the territory. Here we can find plants and trees such as black hornbeam(Ostrya carpinifolia), rowan(Sorbus aucuparia), oak(Quercus petraca), laurel (Laurus nobilis) and holly (Ilex aquifolium).
On the Eastern coast of Argentario , in some limited places such as Podere Sant'Antonio, Podere Nunziata and near the Friars Monastery, there are chestnut woods of notable sizes.
Cultivated areas are nowadays greatly reduced, and are almost totally used for two typical Mediterranean cultivations: olive trees and vineyards.
Vineyards are frequent to be grown in terrace-cultivations, perhaps their cultivation is not so extended because of the difficulties of this peculiar
terraced surface or maybe also because they are often near the built-up area. Olive trees are cultivated either on steep terraced areas or on less sloping zones. Olive-growing is more widespread compared to vineyards; but it is almost absent from the Southern side of the promontory, which is more suitable for viticulture for its climate and exposure. There are also a few limited herbaceous cultivations, made up of cereals and fodder plants, which are located only in the Eastern side of Argentario in Le Piane, i.e. where the only plains are.
(Cavalli e Lambertini, 1988).
