Amelichloa caudata (Trin.) Arriaga & Barkworth

Sida 22(1): 148 (2006).

Bas.: Stipa caudata Trin., Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St.-Pétersbourg, Sér. 6, Sci. Math 1: 75 (1831)

Taxon confirmed for the Lazio region and second record for Italy.

Plant native to South America (Argentina, Uruguay and Chile). This species (Fig. 3) was reported for the metropolitan area of Rome, in the Valle dell’Inferno (Anzalone 1982) which prior to our study represented the only Italian records for this species. In Galasso et al. (2018) it is classified as casual alien. Within the Acque Albule SAC Amelichloa caudata can be observed in semi-mesophilous grasslands characterized by a certain degree of anthropic disturbance. These grasslands exhibit the co-dominance of perennial grasses, such as Oloptum miliaceum, Dactylis glomerata, Avena barbata, Poa pratensis which grow together other species which are typical of disturbed clay-rich soils, such as Daucus carota and Dittrichia viscosa s.str. (Table 1 rel. 7). The most probable syntaxonomic reference is the Artemisietea class. The high degree of anthropic disturbance does not allow a certain classification at the alliance rank where similarities are found for Bromo-Oryzopsion and Inulo-Agropyrion as well. This new record confirms the slow expansion of A. caudata at the footslopes of the Lazio region sub-Apennines where it is probable that the species is now to be considered as a naturalized alien species rather than a casual alien (see Galasso et al. 2018).

Carex vulpina L.

Sp. Pl. 2: 973 (1753)

New record for Lazio region.

Carex vulpina exhibits a mainly Eurosiberian distribution. It is a recent addition to the Italian flora where it is reported only for Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Umbria and Abruzzo whereas it is considered doubtful in the Aosta Valley. In morphological terms C. vulpina is similar to C. otrubae Podp., but it exhibits stems with sub-winged edges and concave faces; leaves with ligule wider than long (2-5 mm) on the sides protruding beyond the leaf margin; brown glume with green central nerve; dark brown and papillose utricles. The morphological differences between C. otrubae and C. vulpina were identified by Haussknecht (in Österr. Bot. Zeitschr., 1877), and later by Samuelsson (1922). C. vulpina, although, as reported by Smith and Ashton (2006), not all authors agree about the real taxonomic value of all the morphological traits that are considered as diagnostic. In ecological terms, C.vulpina is typical of the banks of the great middle-European and Siberian rivers, adapted to the strong variations of the phreatic level. In the Acque Albule SAC, this species grows within the floodplain of the Aniene river, in the undergrowth and at the edge of Phragmites australis communities bordering the course of the river. In these Phragmito-Magnocaricetea and Molinio-Arrhenatheretea communities C. vulpina is associated with other typical of wet meadows species, such as Carex acutiformis, Ranunculus repens, etc (Table 2 rel.7).

Lolium apenninum (De Not.) Ardenghi & Foggi

Taxon 64 (5): 1039 (2015)

Bas.: Festuca apennina De Not., Repert. Fl. Ligust.: 468 (1844)

Syn.: Lolium pratense subsp. apenninum (De Not.) Banfi, Bracchi & Galasso; Schedonorus apenninus (De Not.) Tzvelev; Schedonorus pratensis (Huds.) P. Beauv. subsp. apenninus (De Not.) H. Scholz & Valdés

New record for Lazio region.

Plant usually of mesophilic and semi-mesophylous mountain meadows, it is widespread in northern and central Italy, up to Campania (southern Italy), and has recently been reported for Sicily (Gianguzzi et al. 2018) while it was currently considered absent in Lazio region. Within the SAC, this species is mainly found on the Molinio-Arrhenatheretea wet meadows (Table 2 rels 1–3) which are mowed during the summer, where meso-hygrophylous species (e.g., Carex otrubae, Cyperus longus) grows together with typical species of mesophilous grasslands (e.g. Poa pratensis, Elymus repens, Agrostis stolonifera). The relatively moist soils allow partial high-coverage of Cirsium arvense, this latter being also advantaged by a moderate degree of anthropic disturbance. The syntaxonomical reference is in the mesophilous fringe of Cynosurion cristati. Lolium apenninum can be also found in Thinopyrum acutum communities developed in small depressions on clayey soils which occupy an intermediate position between Cynosurion cristati and Convolvulo-Agropyrion. At present the Acque Albule SAC represents the lower altitudinal limit for the species in Italy.

Onosma echioides (L.) L. subsp. angustifolia (Lehm.) Peruzzi et N.G.Passal.

Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 157(4): 772 (2008)

Bas.: Onosma angustifolia Lehm.

New record for Lazio region.

Onosma echioides (L.) L. includes 4 subspecies in Italy: subsp. dalmatica (Scheele) Peruzzi et N.G. Passal., from Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Veneto, subsp. canescens (J. Presl et C. Presl) Peruzzi et N.G. Passal., endemic to northern Sicily, subsp. echioides, with a South European range, ranging from Emilia-Romagna to Calabria NW, and subsp. angustifolia (Lehm.) Peruzzi et N.G. Passal. endemic to central and southern Italy (Abruzzo, Basilicata, Puglia and Calabria NE) (Peruzzi and Passalaqua 2004; 2008; Conti et al. 2016). The subsp. angustifolia differs from the other subspecies for the green-ashy leaves covered by very dense greyish-white hairs completely appressed to the leaf blade (Pignatti 2017-2019). In the Acque Albule SAC, O. echioides subsp. angustifolia exhibits its lowermost altitudinal limit for the whole central Italy (41 m a.s.l.). In the study area this species is found within in three different environments, i) fissures of travertine compact pavements dominated by Sedum hispanicum and/or Sedum rupestre assignable to Sedo-Scleranthetea (Tab. 1 rels 3–4); ii) travertine rocky outcrops with other micro-chamaephytes such as Teucrium capitatum and Thymus striatus subsp. acicularis or in mixed hemycryptophytic-therophytic dry grasslands assignable to Ononido-Rosmarinetea and Cisto-Micromerietalia (Tab. 1 rel. 5); iii) dry grasslands together with Ampelodesmos mauritanicus developed on substrates characterized by less rockiness and greater stoniness than the two previous types (Tab. 1 rels 1–2, Fig. 4 ). The syntaxonomic classification of this community remains very uncertain. The high therophytic component, the presence of Petrorhagia saxifraga, Ziziphora acinos, Saxifraga tridactylites and the rich cryptogamic component suggest a classification in the Sedo-Scleranthetea. As a consequence it could still be classified in habitat 6110*. On the other hand the dominance of Ampelodesmos mauritanicus, together with a strong Mediterranean therophitic component could support a classification in Lygeo-Stipetea then a possible identification of the Habitat 5330 “Thermo-Mediterranean and pre-desert scrub” subtype 32.23 - Diss-dominated garrigues.

Ophrys illyrica S. Hertel & K. Hertel.

J. Eur. Orch. 34 (3): 512 (2002)

Syn.: Ophrys araneola subsp. illyrica (S. Hertel & K. Hertel) Kreutz.

FJGJT-J343T-HTJ7

Taxon confirmed for the Lazio region.

Ophrys illirica (Fig. 5) is currently reported for Croatia, Istrian peninsula, southern Dalmatia, Kvarner islands (Devillers and Devillers-Terschuren 2004; Delforge 2016) and southwestern Slovenia (Paušič and Bakan 2016), where it exhibits a scattered distribution. This species belongs to the medium-small flowered group in the O. sphegodes micro-species complex of which O. illyrica represents one of the later flowering species (Hertel and Presser 2006). The presence of O. illyrica was reported in Italy only for the sites of Vetralla and Tarquinia in the northern Lazio region (Antonj et al. 2018) and Abruzzo (Bartolucci & Galasso 2022). This new record of O. illyrica for the SAC Acque Albule (60 m a.s.l.) represents both the southernmost limit of the whole range of the species and the lowermost altitudinal limit in the Italian Peninsula (51 m a.s.l.), the previous record ranging between 185 and 302 m a.s.l. (Antonj et al. 2018). In the study area O. illyrica occurs with few individuals in mixed hemycryptophytic-therophytic semi-mesophilous grasslands (Tab. 1 rel. 6) in areas characterized by rocky outcrops and shallow soils and subjected to a significant degree of anthropic disturbance which leads the community to be characterized by several synanthropic species. For this reason the syntaxonomic classification is intermediate between Stipo-Trachynetea (Brachypodietaliadistachyi), Chenopodietea (Brometalia rubenti-tectorum) and Sedo-Scleranthetea.

Typha domingensis (Pers.) Steud.

Nomencl. Bot.: 860 (1824)

Bas: Typha latifolia subsp. domingensis Pers., Syn. Pl. 2: 532 (1807)

New record for Lazio region.

It is a wide pantropical range species. In Italy it is recorded in Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Marche, Abruzzo, Molise, Puglia, Calabria and Sicily. The absence of reports for some regions is probably due to the not easy distinction from the more widespread Typha angustifolia, of which it has long been considered a subspecies and with which it is easily confused. Our specimens exhibit some diagnostic traits which are considered diagnostic for the identification of this taxon (https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=47463), such as the leaf blade gland-dotted adaxially near base, pistillate spike cinnamon to medium brown paler than stigma, ovary separated from the stigma and located close to the base of the pistil. In the Acque Albule SAC, T. domingensis grows near a sulphur water spring in typical helophytic Phragmitetalia communities, together with other Typha species such as Typha angustifolia, T. latifolia, T. laxmannii (see figure 6). Other typical species of wet meadows and marshes occurring in these communities are Phragmites australis, Cyperus longus, C. fuscus, Juncus articulatus, Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani, Ranunculus repens (Tab. 3 rel. 1). The Typha sp. pl. communities are not directly protected by the Annex 1 of the Habitat directive, but in the Acque Albule SAC they represent one of the few survived examples of the helophytic vegetation which in the past was very abundant around the sulphurous pools.

Typha laxmannii Lepech

Nova Acta Acad. Sci. Imp. Petrop. Hist. Acad. 12: 84: (1801)

New record for Lazio region.

Typha laxmannii is a species with a wide distribution ranging from SE-Europe to Japan. In Italy it is reported as native species in all the regions of northern Italy (with the exception of Aosta Valley, where it is absent and Trentino Alto-Adige where it is considered as naturalized alien). It occurs also within the Adriatic side of the Italian Peninsula in Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Abruzzo and Molise regions and in Sicily whereas it is doubtful in Calabria and completely absent in the Tyrrhenian side of the peninsula and in Sardinia. The specimens collected exhibited some diagnostic morphological traits of T. laxmannii that allow it to be distinguished from the co-occurring T. latifolia, such as male and female inflorescence separated by a space wider than 3 cm, a short and large female spike ¼ - ½ shorter than male spike and a relatively low dimension of the mature plants (about 1 m in height). At the same time these specimens cannot be assigned to T. minima Hoppe due to having up to 1 cm wide leaves exceeding the inflorescence. In the study area T. laxmannii was found in the same helophytic community already described in the previous note for T. domingensis.

Vicia pannonica Crantz subsp. pannonica

Stirpium Austriarum Fasciculus (ed. 2) 5: 393. 1769.

New record for Lazio region.

Vicia pannonica Crantz is a species native to central-southern Europe and western Asia (Caucasian region, Turkey and Iran), but was introduced in Europe, U.S.A., North Africa, E-China and the Far East. It is frequently cultivated as a good fodder species and easily tends to become a naturalized species in agricultural habitats, uncultivated or abandoned industrial areas. In Italy there are two subspecies: the subsp. pannonica, rarer and widespread in Lombardy, Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli, Emilia Romagna and Abruzzo that is characterized by yellowish-white flowers, and the subsp. striata (M. Bieb.) Nyman with red-violet flowers, widespread in almost all of Italy, excluding Aosta Valley, Liguria, Campania, Basilicata, Calabria and the major islands. The specimens collected within the SAC exhibited yellow flowers and were found in Thinopyrum acutum meadows and in the contact areas between these latter and the shrublands dominated by Rubus ulmifolius, or the reeds with Arundo donax (Tab. 2 rels 4-6). Despite the absolute dominance of Thinopyrum acutum linked to the clayey soils, these communities are also characterized by several synathropic species and for this reasons their more reasonable classification is in the class Artemisietea than Molinio-Arrhenatheretea.

Zannichellia peltata Bertol.

Fl. Ital. 10: 10 (1854)

Taxon confirmed for Lazio region.

It is a rooting hydrophyte species having an European-Atlantic and W-Mediterranean range. It is known in Italy with certainty only for Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Basilicata and Sicily (Bernardo & Caldararo 2014). Zannichellia peltata was described by Bertoloni (1854) on samples from Calabria (“Habui ex fossis, et aquis quietis Calabriae prope Rosarno a Gasparrinio”) but it has not been found since then in that region. Similarly, for Lazio there is only an ancient record relating to a sample collected in Rome (I.IV.1894, leg. “sine coll” and preserved in G (Talavera et al. 1986). Therefore this record for the Acque Albule site is a confirmation of the presence of this plant in Lazio. According to Talavera et al. (1986), the genus Zannichellia is divided into two sections. Sect. Zannichellia includes polyploid species (Z. palustris L., Z. pedunculata Rchb., Z. major Boenn. ex Rchb. and Z. melitensis Brullo, Giusso et Lanf) and is characterized by bearing male and female flowers on the same node and having stamens with short filaments and bilocular anthers. Sect. Monopus Graebner, consisting of Z. peltata Bertol., Z. obtusifolia Talavera, Garcia-Mur. et H. Smit and Z. contorta (Desf.) Chamisso et Schlecht., includes all diploid species and has male and female flowers on different nodes and stamens with long filaments and tetralocular anthers. Our specimens show the latter morphological traits and are distinguished by being annual plants with acute-apex leaves. In the study area this taxon was found in a fresh-water pool at the base of a travertine cliff bordered by a Typha latifolia stand.

Bryophytic studies are few throughout the whole Lazio region and these were carried out in a few well-defined areas. In addition to Carcano's study (1989) on the bryophytic flora of the city of Rome, the Circeo National Park (Aleffi et al. 1998) and on the Lazio side of the Monti della Laga (Aleffi et al. 1997), recent research has been carried out in the Monterano Nature Reserve (Aleffi and Tacchi 2004). Other studies regarded more artificial environments, such as the Vatican Gardens (Aleffi 2015) and in the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo (Aleffi 2017) and Villa Gregoriana in Tivoli (Aleffi et al. 2020b), where several species belonging to the Cratoneurion alliance have been found. The most recent study was that carried out in coastal reserve of Castelporziano (Aleffi 2021). As far as the bryosociological studies are concerned, a survey on the bryophyte vegetation of the Circeo National Park (Privitera and Puglisi 2009), and another on the Mediterranean temporary ponds of some Italian territories including Lazio region were carried out (Puglisi et al. 2015).

Brachythecium albicans (Hedw.) Schimp.

B.S.G. Bryol. Eur. 6: 23. 553 (1853)

Bas.: Hypnum albicans Hedwig, Sp. Musc. Frond.: 251 (1801).

New record for Lazio region.

Brachythecium albicans occurs in almost all Italian regions, albeit with sporadic and point-like reports, often dating back to the late 19th century. It is a moss species with a characteristic morphology due to its pale whitish-green or yellow-green color, and the presence of string-like shoots. The plants are sparsely branched, generally 2–5 cm long, with tall, mostly erect branches. This moss species typically grows on light and shallow soils, not very rich in organic matter, especially sandy substrates. It can also be found in pastures and within roads edges or uncultivated lands. Although B. albicans prefers acidic substrates, it can also occur on leached calcareous soils and limestone rocks. It acts as typical open habitat species so that it rarely occurs in shaded environments.

Grimmia montana Bruch & Schimp.

B.S.G. Bryol. Eur. 3: 128 (1845).

New record for Lazio region.

This species is currently recorded only for the Alps and few scattered sites in southern Italy, Sardinia and Sicily. This report for the Lazio region is the first for central Italy. Grimmia montana is normally found in the form of small cushions whose colour ranges from dark green to almost black. Gametophytes are up to 1 cm thick and grow on different types of substrates, from very base-rich to acidic, usually in environments well exposed to light. It is common at moderate to high elevations, but it can grow at low altitudes too.

There are few references to date on the lichenological component of the travertine outcrops of Acque Albule. Ravera, in Fanelli (2007), identified Cladonia foliacea (Huds.) Willd. Gyalolechia fulgens (Sw.) Søchting, Frödén & Arup., Psora decipiens (Hedw.) Hoffm, Toninia sp., and Collema sp. in a study concerning a particular type of therophytic grassland of the Alysso-Sedion identified in the Platea dei Tartari located outside the boundary of the current SAC. In our paper we report a new short list of rare lichens for the Lazio region.

Arthonia galactites (DC.) Dufour

J. Phys. Hist. Nat., 87: 203, 1818.

Bas.: Verrucaria galactites DC in Lamarck & de Candolle, Fl. Franç., éd. 3, 2: 315, 1805.

Taxon confirmed for Lazio region.

It is an epiphytic crustose lichen, rather hygrophytic to mesophitic, extremely rare to rare in Italy, usually found on smooth barks, e.g., Populus sp.pl., Fraxinus ornus. Previous reports for the flora of Lazio date back to the end of the nineteenth century (Tamburlini 1884; Jatta 1889). In the study area it occurs on Populus sp. on a small stream bank.

Diploschistes gypsaceus (Ach.) Zahlbr.

Hedwigia, 31: 35, 1892.

Bas.: Urceolaria gypsacea Ach., Lichenogr. Univ.: 338, 1810.

Second record for Lazio region

This is an extremely rare to rather rare crustose lichen in Italy, currently known in the Lazio region only in the Monterano Nature Reserve (Genovesi et al. 2011); previous reports date back to the end of the nineteenth century (Tamburlini 1884; Jatta 1889). This species is usually found in rock fissures, on vertical or underhanging surfaces of calcareous rocks (Fig. 7). In the study area it widely occurs only at the edge of geyser form structures.

Placidium rufescens (Ach.) A. Massal.

Sched. Crit., 6: 114, 1856.

Bas.: Endocarpon rufescens Ach., Lichenogr. Univ.: 304, 1810.

Second record for Lazio region.

It is a squamulose lichen (Fig. 8) very rare to rather rare in Italy, usually found with cyanobacteria on vertical seepage tracks of calcareous rocks. This is the second record from Lazio region where the species is only known on limestone within the montane belt of Mount S.Angelo in the Aurunci mountains (Nimis and Tretiach 2004).

Squamarina lentigera (Weber) Poelt

Mitt. bot. Staatss. München, 2: 536, 1958.

Bas.: Lichen lentigerus Weber - Spicil. Fl. Goett.: 192, 1778.

New record of rare species for Lazio region.

This is a squamulose lichen very rare to rather rare in Italy, only locally common, especially on gypsaceous or clayey soil in dry grasslands (Fig. 9).

Xalocoa ocellata (Fr.) Kraichak, Lücking & Lumbsch

Austral. Syst. Bot., 26: 472, 2013.

Bas.: Parmelia ocellata Fr. - Lich. Eur. Ref.: 190, 1831

Taxon confirmed for Lazio region.

It is a very rare to rather rare crustose lichen, occurring only on the geyseriform structures; previous reports in Lazio region date back to the end of the nineteenth century (Tamburlini 1884; Jatta 1889).

The Italian flora includes 39 species of Charophytes, also known as stoneworts (Bazzichelli and Abdelahad 2009; Romanov et al. 2019; Becker 2019; Becker et al. 2021). Their presence often goes unnoticed and few recent studies have analyzed their distribution in Italy (Becker 2019). Stoneworts play an important ecological role in aquatic ecosystems (Vestergaard and Sand-Jensen 2000, Kufel and Kufel 2002), are threatened at European and global level (Baastrup-Spohr et al. 2013; Azzella 2014) and has used in bioindication (Doege et al. 2016; Poikane et al. 2018). In the absence of anthropogenic disturbance, when the ecological conditions are favorable, stoneworts are the dominant elements in a variety of wetland and freshwater or brackish habitats. Stoneworts need freshwater with high conductivity and low concentration of nitrates and phosphates. Therefore, the SAC “Travertini Acque Albule (Bagni di Tivoli)” is potentially a favorable habitat for their proliferation, but few studies report information of stoneworts occurrences. At the beginning of the twentieth century in the “Herbarium romanum” (RO) (Thiers 2022) of the Royal botanical institute were preserved four specimens from the area of Acque Albule: Chara tomentosa, C. gymnophylla, C. crassicaulis, and C. vulgaris (Formiggini 1909). Since then, the botanical studies in this area have mainly focused on the vascular flora while the investigations relating to the Characeae broke off. In the surveys made in the SAC “Travertini Acque Albule (Bagni di Tivoli)”, vegetation dominated by algae of the Charophyceae class was observed in the quarry areas flooded by groundwater. Extensive populations dominated by six species of the genus Chara and one dominated by a species of the genus Tolypella were found.

Tolypella hispanica Nordstedt ex T.F.Allen 1888

This is a particularly rare species, with a range restricted to the coastal areas of the western Mediterranean and at risk of extinction in Italy.

Chara delicatula C.Agardh

Chara globularis Thuillier

Chara aspera Wildenow

Chara vulgaris L.

Chara hispida L.

Chara intermedia A.Braun ex Lange

They are all typical species of oligo-mesotrophic waters rich in dissolved silicates and carbonates. The quarry areas in this context therefore represent an ideal ecosystem for the development of stoneworts (Fig. 10), plants sensitive to increased trophic loads and water turbidity. The first three species belong to the Grovesia Wood 1962 sub-section of the species of the genus Chara with triplostic cauloid and are easy to identify. C. hispida and C. intermedia belong to the Hartmania Wood 1962 sub-section and their identification is more complex, especially, as in our case, when calcareous incrustations on single individuals are found. C. vulgaris, C. globularis and C. delicatula are the most common species. C. globularis and C. delicatula rarely colonize the same water body (Pelechaty et al. 2004) so it is peculiar we have found them growing together in a restricted ecological space such as that of the quarry pools. However the simultaneous occurrence of C. globularis and C. delicatula was already reported for the Lazio region in the volcanic lakes of Bracciano, Bolsena and Vico (Azzella 2014) where, the coexistence of these two species is certainly more plausible given the large size and the high depth gradient of these lakes.

The aquatic community we identified in the Acque Albule area could be classified in the habitat 3140 of 92/43/EEC Directive “Hard oligo-mesotrophic waters with benthic vegetation of Chara spp.”