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Eryngium barrelieri
Boiss.
This species with a southern Mediterranean distribution is present in Sardinia,
Lazio, Puglia, and Sicily. The life-cycle can be spent part in water, part on moist
to dry soil. It grows in ephemeral ponds flooded only in winter, below the lower
montane belt, with optimum in the Mediterranean belt. It is a characteristic
species of Mediterranean temporary ponds, commonly found in Sardinia but
indicated in the IUCN regional Red List as an endangered species (Conti et al.,
1997). The genus name is of uncertain etymology: it could derive from the
Greek 'eryngion' (hedgehog) or 'eryma' (defense), in both cases alluding to the
strong prickliness of the plant; the species is dedicated to the Dominican monk
and botanist Jacques Barrelier (1606-1673). Flowering period: May to June.
Eryngium corniculatum
Lam.
This species with a mainly western Mediterranean distribution finds in Sardinia
the eastern boundary of its distributional range. The life-cycle can be spent part
in water, part on moist to dry soil. It grows in pools and ponds that are flooded
only in winter and spring, but are dry in summer, from sea level to
approximately 300 m. It is a characteristic species of the Mediterranean
temporary ponds, but in Sardinia it has so far been found in three sites only: Mt.
Minerva (Villanova Monteleone), Pond of Bara (Macomer), Pauli della Giara
(VS). It falls into the vulnerable category of the Italian Red Lists (Caria &
Bagella, 2011). The genus name is of uncertain etymology: it could derive from
the Greek 'eryngion' (hedgehog) or 'eryma' (defense), in both cases alluding to
the strong prickliness of the plant; the species name refers to the shape of the bracts of the inflorescence, which are
linear and horn-shaped. Flowering period: June to August.
Eryngium tricuspidatum
L.
This species with a mainly southern and western, strictly Mediterranean
distribution, is present in Sardinia and in Sicily. It grows in dry and stony
uncultivated, barren pastures, below the montane belt. The species is sporadic
on the edge of the Sardinian temporary ponds, in contact with ruderal
vegetation. The genus name is of uncertain etymology: it could derive from the
Greek 'eryngion' (hedgehog) or 'eryma' (defense), in both cases alluding to the
strong prickliness of the plant; the species name refers to the bracts of the
inflorescence, which are three-forked. Flowering period: June to September.
Eudianthe laeta
Rchb. ex Willk.
This annual plant with a mainly north-western Mediterranean distribution is
present, but generally rare, in Tuscany, Lazio, Puglia and Sardinia (no longer
found in the Marche, and of dubious occurrence in Campania). It is a
characteristic species of Mediterranean temporary ponds; in Sardinia it is
common in the outer belt of the ponds. It grows in moist meadows along the
coast and at the edges of ephemeral ponds, on soils which are flooded or wet in
winter and dry in summer, from sea level to about 600 m. The genus name
derives from the Greek 'eu' (good) and 'dianthes' (speckled flowers). Flowering
period: April to May.
Euphorbia exigua
L. subsp.
exigua
This annual spurge with a broadly Mediterranean distribution (now almost
cosmopolitan and perhaps of ancient introduction at the limit of its present range
- archaeophyte), is present in all regions of Italy. It grows in cereal crops, more
rarely in abandoned fields and along the roads, on silty-clay soils rich in
skeleton, dry summer, rich in nitrogen compounds, usually on siliceous
substrates, below the lower montane belt; it is locally strongly declining, due to
the abandonment of cereal crops. The species is common in the outer belt of the
Sardinian temporary ponds, in contact with ruderal vegetation. The sap is
poisonous: very irritating, it can trigger photoallergic reactions. The genus name
refers to Euphorbus, physician of King Juba II of Mauritania (I sec. BC - I
century AD), which, according to Pliny, discovered the spurge and its
properties; the species name refers to the small size of the plant. Flowering period: May to August.
