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Itineraries
On the hills of the northern part of the Peninsula of San Vito Lo
Capo, where acidic rocks outcrop, scattered nuclei of open Quercus
suber woodland with Arbutus unedo, Erica arborea and Cytisus villosus
(ERICO-QUERCION ILICIS) occur.
The margins of these woodlands are often covered by mantle com-
munities (PRUNO SPINOSAE-RUBION ULMIFOLII) referred to Cle-
matido cirrhosae-Rubetum ulmifolii.
The steep, rocky and wind-exposed areas are characterised by
Euphorbietum dendroidis, an open thermophilous scrub rich in both
summer-deciduous species, like Euphorbia dendroides, E. bivonae, Ana-
gyris foetida, and sclerophyllous plants (OLEO-CERATONION). More
complex and mature nuclei of evergreen maquis-forest can be obser-
ved in the localities Firriato e Cipollazzo and at Balata di Baida.
The nuclei of open maquis dominated by Chamaerops humilis whi-
ch still occur along the coasts of Zingaro reserve, west of San Vito Lo
Capo and west of Mt. Cofano (Cornino) are ascribed to Pistacio len-
tisci-Chamaeropetum humilis. Thermo-xerophilous summer-deciduous
maquis (PERIPLOCION ANGUSTIFOLIAE) was probably present in
the past on the edge of the promontories of the Mts. of Trapani and is
still represent by the association Periploco angustifoliae-Euphorbietum
dendroidis on the warmest sites of the main Egadi islands.
The base-rich or subacid (terra rossa) shallow soils host several
typologies of garrigue. These subshrub communities are referred to
the central-Mediterranean alliance CISTO ERIOCEPHALI-ERICION
MULTIFLORAE and are represented by the associations Micromerio
fruticulosae-Ericetum multiflorae (common on Egadi Islands and within
Zingaro reserve) and Brachypodio ramosi-Cistetum cretici (Mt. Cofano,
endemic to NW Sicily). Some probably native Pinus halepensis stands
found on Marettimo have been referred to the association Coridothy-
mo capitati-Pinetum halepensis.
As an issue of millennia of anthopogenic disturbance (defore-
station, overgrazing and wildfires), more than half of the surface of
the considered area is covered with thermo-xerophilous grasslands
(HYPARRHENIETALIA HIRTAE). The association Hyparrhenietum
hirto-pubescentis is rather common on the abandoned agricultural
terraces of the lowlands, while Sanguisorbo verrucosae-Magydaretum
pastinaceae occurs on stony ground in the moister sites of Favigna-
na and Levanzo. A small spot of xerophilous grassland referred to

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