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Acta Botanica Gallica: Botany Letters 313

less degraded Quercus suber L. woods (Quercetea ilicis
class).
In the Tyrrhenian area – especially in Central Italy
(Selvi and Viciani 1999) – it is still common within cork
oak woodlands, although it is reported also within the
“maritime grasslands” (Fiori 1923–29), the “acidophilous
garrigues and maquis” (Pignatti 1982) and the “marginal
clearings” (Pignatti et al. 1985), always on arenaceous
substrates. On the hills of Maremma Grossetana,
specifically, it is considered characteristic of a formation
with Quercus suber ascribed to the Simethido
mattiazzi–Quercetum suberis association (Selvi and
Viciani 1999) (order Quercetalia ilicis, class Quercetea
ilicis). It is also frequent in features of a secondary
maquis tied to areas disturbed by fires, in turn referred to
the Erico arboreae-Arbutetum unedonis subclass.
quercetosum suberis (order Quercetalia calliprini, class
Quercetea ilicis); the formation is characterized by a
dense shrub layer dominated by Ericaceae (Arbutus unedo
L., Erica arborea L. and Erica scoparia) with which are
associated Phillyrea angustifolia L., Myrtus communis
L., Cistus salvifolius L., Lavandula stoechas L., Calluna
vulgaris, Genista pilosa L. (Selvi and Viciani 1999).
In the Sardinian-Corsican stations, S. mattiazzi is
found in various features of coastal maquis and
garrigues, in environments with a high oceanic
character. In Corsica, for instance, it is typical of the
sub-coastal landscape of the rather fractured and
leached alkaline granites (Paradis and Pozzo Di Borgo
2005), where it constitutes one of the dominant
Figure 5. Simethis mattiazzi in bloom, here in Brachypodium
retusum grasslands, located in soil pockets among calcareous elements of the herbaceous layer of various formations.
slabs. It is noted in the Juniperus turbinata maquis (Myrto
Figure 5. Simethis mattiazzi en fleurs, dans les pelouses à communis-Juniperetum turbinatae), the Arbutus
Brachypodium retusum, localisés dans les poches du sol entre unedo and Erica arborea maquis-bush (Erico
les dalles calcaires.
arboreae-Arbutetum unedonis, with the subassociations
myrtetosum communis and quercetosum ilicis) and in
by nanophanerophytes, camephytes, emicriptophytes and various garrigue formations, in particular with Cistus
geophytes – are related to purely acid and humiferous monspeliensis and Lavandula stoechas (Lavandulo
soils, which develop on arenaceous substrates, between stoechadis–Cistetum monspeliensis, Cisto-Lavanduletea),
subhumid and ultrahyperhumid ombroclimatic belts. with Teucrium marum L. (community with Teucrium
Similar features are present also in inner stations, such as marum, Rosmarinetea officinalis) and with Erica
in Catalonia (La Selva Plain), where the species is found scoparia (Myrto communis–Ericetum scopariae),
in vegetation formations with Erica cinerea, settled among besides physiognomizing grasslands features
the clearings of Pinus pinaster Ait. and Pinus pinea L. (community with S. mattiazzi), referred to the
pine forests (Sàez, Aymerich, and Blanché 2010); at Pinar Molinio–Arrhenatheretea class (Paradis 2010). The
de Selas – Guadalajara area, 1190 m a.s.l. – it is also stations of the southern part of Sardinia are tied to
indicated in the heathlands with Erica scoparia L. almost similar maquis and garrigues features, especially
(Morales Del Molino and Mateo 2010). those of Sulcis (Bacchetta 2006).
Towards the inner Iberian Peninsula, S. mattiazzi is
found in mesophilous pastures and in shrubs, but also in the
Analysis of the Sicilian stations
clearings of Quercus pyrenaica Willd. woods, especially in
areas where there has been fire (Segura Zubizarreta, Mateo In the investigated areas of Sicily the presence of
Sanz, and Benito Alonso 2000; Gòmez García et al. 2005; S. mattiazzi is tied to basiphilous formations of garrigue
Alejandre, Garcìa Lòpez, and Mateo Sanz 2006). with Erica multiflora L. subsp. multiflora (Marettimo
In Northern Africa, the species gravitates between Island and Mount S. Giuliano) and grasslands with
the plains and the low mountains of the humid regions, Brachypodium retusum (Pers.) P. Beauv. (Mount S.
always on siliceous substrates, especially within more or Giuliano).