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Itineraries
brevisiliqua, growing on few cliffs of the western part of the Peninsula
of San Vito Lo Capo, Ptilostemon greuteri, endemic to M. Inici, Centau-
rea erycina and Silene nefelites endemic to Mt. San Giuliano.
Moreover, the Mts. of Trapani host many plants which are endemic
(Botriochloa panormitana, Brassica villosa subsp. bivoniana, Brassica villosa
subsp. drepanensis, Brassica villosa subsp. villosa, Helichrysum panormita-
num subsp. stramineum, Limonium flagellare) to or exclusive (Convolvulus
cneorum, Phagnalon metlesicsii, etc.) of the Drepano-Panormitan district.
Each island of the Egadi archipelago has been included in the list of
Sicilian IPAs (SIC4 ‘Favignana’, SIC5 ‘Marettimo’ and SIC7 ‘Levanzo’).
Taking into account the very high number of narrow endemic or exclu-
sive plants shared by Trapani Mts. and Egadi Islands (Asperula rupes-
tris, Centaurea panormitana subsp. ucriae, Centaurea panormitana subsp.
umbrosa, Euphorbia bivonae, Euphorbia papillaris, Galium pallidum, Limoni-
um bocconei, Limonium lojaconoi, Limonium ponzoi, Pseudoscabiosa limoni-
folia, Simethis mattiazzi, etc.), the proposal of Brullo et al. (1995) to treat
all the Egadi islands as a separate district appears questionable. In fact,
the few original traits are two endemics to the archipelago (Brassica
macrocarpa and Senecio aegadensis), two endemics of Favignana, i.e. the
apomyctic Limonium aegusae and Allium aethusanum (probably nothing
more than an ecotype of A. lehmanii), and the only known Sicilian pop-
ulations of Aristolochia navicularis and Ophrys holosericea subsp. apulica.
Yet Marettimo alone could be treated as a separate district: in fact, it is
home of 7 narrow endemics (Allium franciniae, Bupleurum dianthifoli-
um, Helichrysum panormitanum subsp. messeriae, Limonium tenuiculum,
Oncostema hughii, Prospero hierae and Thymus nitidus) and of 4 species
that occur nowhere else in Sicily (Daphne sericea, Erodium maritimum,
Lagurus ovatus subsp. vestitus, Thymelaea tartonraira).
Zonal vegetation
Some fragments of evegreen maquis (QUERCETEA and QUER-
CETEALIA ILICIS) occur on steep, stony and less accessible sites,
enjoying the air humidity coming from the sea. Those colonising the
screes of Mt. Cofano are ascribed to Rhamno alaterni-Quercetum ilicis
(Rhamnus alaternus, Fraxinus ornus and Pistacia terebinthus), while tho-
se occurring on the limestones and dolomias along the E- and N-fa-
cing slopes of Mt. Speziale, Mt. Cofano and Marettimo are referred to
the Pistacio lentisci-Quercetum ilicis.

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