Vegetation

For its volcanological characteristics, together with its natural and peculiar beauties, Etna has been defined as "the biggest naturalistic laboratory in the world". The extremely rich and various vegetation conditions the countryside and offers continuous and also sudden changes; this depends on the different consistencies and the continuous readaptation of the sublayer due to lava flows which occur from time to time; but to the detriment of this, Etna has two patriarchs on its slopes: the "Ilice di Carinnu" (800 years old) and the "Castagno dei 100 cavalli" (more than 2000 years old). As far as the spontaneous vegetation is concerned, starting from the lowest heights, there are oak and chestnut trees. Going higher and higher (especially on the eastern slope) there are woodlands of bay oak, turkey oak and of pine-trees. You may also find beautiful pine-woods, for example in Linguaglossa and Castiglione di Sicilia. You may also find beech trees, at about 2000 metres above sea level, and also birch trees, which are considered by most scientists an endemic entity. Among the wooden species which characterize the Etnean countryside the "ginestra dell’Etna" (broom of Etna) has to be remembered for its typical and ravishing fragrance and represents one of the strongest plants able to take root in Etna’s lava. Apart from the vegetation, the countryside changes and is characterized by pillow-like plants such as the thorn-tree (Astragalus) which give shelter to other plants such as the groundsel, the violet and the mouse-ear chickweed. Above 3000 metres where you may find the Astragalus only very few plants can survive the environmental conditions of such high altitudes. From here until the summit, you will only find the volcanic desert. The typical products linked to the volcanic land are numerous. On the slopes among the gardens and the green bushes of the great number of cities and countries, the link between earth sun and the work of man has created wide vineyards and citrus groves, the last ones are typical of the eastern and southern slopes. Here you can also find spontaneous products, also of exotic origin such as the sycamore fig, a mexican plant which has become one of the most known symbols of Sicily. Majestic olive trees provide very tasty olives as well as olive oil, popular all over the world. The so called "cosce" pears and the "cola" apples for example, cannot be found anywhere else and they are characterized by a powdery pulp and by a flavour which resembles a vanilla ice-cream, in fact, they are called "puma gilati". You may also find hazel-nut and pistachio-trees, especially on the western slope.

Provincial Tourism Board of Catania
http://www.apt-catania.com
E-mail : apt@apt-catania.com