An unknown hotspot of plant diversity in the heart of the Central Apennine: flora and vegetation outline of Mt. Pozzoni-St. Rufo valley (Cittareale, Rieti)

Surprisingly enough, Italy still has some botanically unexplored areas; among these there are some territories between Lazio, Umbria and Abruzzo not included in any protected area. The study area, ranging for 340 ha, includes the mountainous area of Mt. Pozzoni-Mt. Prato-St. Rufo valley, which forms the upper part of the river Velino basin, located in the territory of the municipality of Cittareale (Rieti, Lazio), at an elevation from 1150 to 1903 m a.s.l. The substrate is mainly made of marly limestone of the Meso-Cenozoic Umbria-Marche sedimentary succession. The climate is Temperate and comprises vegetation belts from the montane to sub-alpine. Land cover is dominated by pastures and deciduous forests, with only a few hay meadows. 794 entities have been detected: 16% are considered rare or very rare for the regional territory with several floristic novelties for the regional flora, 6% of the total was found to be endemic to Italy and only eight taxa were aliens. Four taxa are new for the regional flora of Lazio: Arum cylindraceum, Alopecurus pratensis subsp. pratensis, Hieracium bupleuroides and Trinia glauca subsp. glauca. Forest vegetation is represented by beech forests, while dry grasslands are the most widespread vegetation type. The greatest phytocoenotic diversity was found within the secondary pastures. Particularly interesting is the plant community with Iris marsica, which suggests that limestone mountain ledges can represent a primary habitat for this endemic species of the Central Apennine. The presence of several habitats listed in the EU Habitat Directive indicates how the lack of detailed territorial knowledge can lead to the non-designation of conservation sites in areas of high naturalistic value. These findings showed that botanical explorations in territories which are still not known could contribute significantly to the identification of areas of high interest in conserving plant diversity.