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44 Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter, 2002, No. 132
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for butcher shops that could not be met by the butchers on the and had alreadybeencollectedhere and on Favignana in 1981 and
islands. Therefore, the animai husbandry economywas suddenly storedingenebanks (Toliand Hendriksen1982).
lost, which meant the end to most farming on the islands. Many Marettimo
places on the island canonlybe used for grazing goats,sheepand Despitelocalagriculture beingalmost completelyabandoned, rei-
cows. Many barley ('orio', formerly exported in great quantity) ics of the last vegetable land-races (e.g. the 'cauliceddi' cabbage
and oat ('avena') fields which had beencultivatedunti! two years
ago now had the old stubble stillleft, or even the straw not taken Figure 5. Collecting of a seed sample from a rare
population of Brassica macrocarpa growing on Favignana
home, due to the sudden end of agriculture. (Dr A. Diederichsen in the foreground) .
The wild vegetation of Favignana was studied in detail for

first time byDiMartino and Trapani (1965a) and laterbySocietà
Botanica Italiana (1973). The authors recorded a strong degrada-
tion due to the almost complete cutting of spontaneous trees by
local population in 18thand 19thcenturies. In those studies 570
wild species (not endemieto Favignana) were described.Accord-
ing to some botanists (Rizza 1995) and our direct observations,
today about 20% of these are extinct. These vanished species
include strawberry-tree and cistus, formerly widespread on this
island, 'valerianella rossa' (Centranthus ruber (L.) DC., appreci-
ated both as medicina! and ornamental plant) (Branca 1998a;
Branca and Pulvirenti1998), 'brassica bianca' or 'cavolo bianco'
(Brassica incanaTen.), 'mazezero' (Daphnemezereum L.), 'papavero
bianco' (Papaver somniferum L. var. album), and a variety of
pellitory (Parietaria sp.). The collecting team gathered here some
wild populations of Avena spp. and the rare Brassica macrocarpa
(Figure 5), also collected in 1986 by Hammer et al. (1987). During
the mission much information on traditional uses of wild plants
in Favignana was also recorded, e.g. caper, 'saltarello' thyme,
carob-tree, wild saffron, the 'mufulena' (Thymelaea hirsuta (L.)
Endl.,used as broomto cleanovens), 'aburrania' (Borago officinalis
L.), 'murtidda' myrtle, 'a nippitedda' (Calamintha nepeta (L.)
Savi), ' u puleiu' (Mentha pulegium L.), wild flax (Linum
usitatissimum L. subsp. angustifolium (Huds.) Thell.), 'a zabbara'
(Agave americana L.) and Arundo donax L. (both these last two
species to obtain binding material), 'battilana' (Silybum marianum
(L.) Gaertn., as vegetable), 'miopro' (Myoporum insulare R. Br., to
give shade), 'erva ventu' (Parietaria sp.), 'vagnu' (Artemisia absin-
thium L.), 'u ranatu' pomegranate-tree,
and 'a purciddana' (Portulaca oleracea L.,
as a vegetable). Aspecific study on this
subject has been carried out by Bertolino
(1988). Information on etymology of Si-
cilian plant local names is reported in
Pasqualino (1987).

Levanzo Figure 6. Remains of an ancient threshing piace for pulses and cereals at Marettimo.
Today only very few farmers remain on
Levanzo, thereforethecollectingactivityon
this island was concentrated on the wild
germplasm. Somepopulationsof two wild

oats (Avena barbata and A. sterilis) were
found and gathered. Brassica macrocarrx:z,an
endemiespeciesofEgadiislands, isaccord-
ing to our investigations and Di Martino
and Trapani (1965b), already exinct on
Levanzo, but stili growing on Favignana
andMarettimo. Wildbeetisquitecommon