Flora

The Park's flora, a rich and fascinating natural heritage that has been studied in the past as well as recently, comprises 1,970 species of higher plants. This number does not include species of lower plants like mosses, lichens, algae and mushrooms.

Some plants in the Park are endemic, that is, they grow exclusively in this region. One is the Park iris (Iris marsica), which grows in only a few places and flowers in the months of May and June. There are also numerous multicolored orchids, of which the rarest, the largest and most beautiful is undoubtedly the lady's-slipper (Cypripedium calceolus), which flowers between May and June in the more inaccessible areas of the Park.

Another rarity is the black pine (Pinus nigra) of Villetta Barrea, a relict species whose origins appear to date from as long ago as the Tertiary period. This particular variety is found only in some areas of the Camosciara and the Val Fondillo.

The dwarf mountain pine (Pinus mugo), a glacial relict occupying the belt of vegetation between the beech woods and the high pastures, is found in the Camosciara.

In the area of Coppo Oscuro, near Barrea, grows a small stand of silver birches (Betula pendula), a relict of the Quaternary Ice Ages, a fascinating reminder of the cold climate veg¬etation that once prevailed in the Apennine mountains.

 The landscape of the Park is however dominated by forests of beech. The scientific name of this tree, Fagus sylvatica, contains an obvious reference to the Latin term silva and recalls the spontaneous origin of the species in the Italian Apennines where the presence of beeches dates from dozens of centuries ago.

The beech is in fact the Park's most common tree species. Beech woods grow at an altitude of 900-1,800 meters and cover more than 60% of the entire area of the Park, contributing substantially to a landscape whose colors vary so spectacularly with the changing of the seasons.

The shape and size of beech trees vary with age, altitude and soil fertility. It is interesting to note that in spring the trees show their leaves at different times depending on altitude and exposure to the sun. Beech trees in warmer and more low-lying areas put out buds before those at higher altitudes and their branches may be covered with leaves when other trees are still bare.

In beech woods the ground is damp; the leaf-litter, in fact, acts as a protection, preventing the earth from drying up during the summer and preventing the ground from freezing and thawing in the winter. With time the leaves decompose, enriching the earth with humus. From the branches of the trees hang clumps of beard lichen (Usnea florida), a species typical of the Apennine region.

The trees vary in appearance: there are centuries-old 'patriarchs' with mighty trunks and candelabra-shaped foliage, straight-trunked specimens soaring to great heights, and young and old trees together

Together with the beech grow other trees, such as Italian maple (Acer opalus), sycamore (Acer pseu-doplatanus) and Lobel's maple (Acer lobelii), the latter endemic in the southern Apennines. There is also rowan, or 'mountain ash' (Sorbus aucuparia), whitebeam (Sorbus aria), yew (Taxus baccata), and at the outermost fringes of the forest laburnum (Laburnum anagyroides), with its characteristic yellow flowers that bloom in the month of May.

At mid-mountain there is mixed woodland, con¬sisting mainly of turkey oak (Quercus cerris), European hop-hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia), hazel (Cory/us avellana), Montpelier maple (Acer mons-pessulanum), field maple (Acer campesfre), and fruit-trees such as crab apple (Malus sy/vesfr/s), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), and perfumed cherry (Prunus mahaleb).

In the southernmost, driest and sunniest parts of the Park, lying adjacent to cultivated areas, we find the downy oak (Quercus pubescens), often growing together with other trees. The turkey oak and downy oak are among the largest species of oak. Old turkey oaks provide food and shelter to many animals, birds and insects.

In areas where water is plentiful, and along rivers and streams, riparian vegetation dominates, charac¬terized by hornbeam (Carpinus betulus), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), black poplar (Populus nigra), white poplar (Populus alba), white willow (Salix alba), goat willow (Salix caprea) and other much less common species like broad-leafed lime (Tilia platyphyllos), southern nettle-tree (Ce/f/s australis) and black alder (Alnus glutinosa).

Groves of evergreen holm oak (Quercus ilex) grow in warmer, sunnier areas of the Park, the trees sometimes clinging to the rocks. In some parts of the Valle del Melfa we find strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), laurel (Laurus nobilis) and ]udas tree (Cercis siliquastrum). On cooler, north-facing slopes we find sporadic stands of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa). At lower altitudes cultivated fields and abandoned lands are gradually colonized by pioneer vegetation.

The forests of the Park are composed as follows: 10% trees of different ages, 25% trees of the same age, 45% irregular trees, 10% coppices, and the remaining 10% in pastures and clearings covered with vegetation. In some places, especially in the higher parts of the valleys, there are surviving areas of virgin forest, now increasingly rare in the rest of the Apennine mountains.

These small areas are carefully protected not only for their ecological, biological and naturalistic value, but also because they are examples of natural forest that contain a wealth of information about how forests were before being modelled and modified by human beings. A characteristic of these natural forests is the presence of so-called 'patriarchs', enormous centuries-old trees which can grow to heights of 30 meters and have trunks measuring more than a meter in diameter. Not only beech trees, but also maples, turkey oaks and black pines can be many centuries old. One example is the giant sycamore of Monte Tranquillo.

If these trees could speak they would tell moving stories of the interminable felling and irrational forest clearing carried out by human beings ever since the earliest times. But the most devastating period was that of the so-called economic miracle, during which tree-felling of an industrial character prevailed. With the use of modern equipment the forests were destroyed in a way that was of no benefit to the local population or the forest culture. Between 1957 and 1967 over 650,000 tall trees in the Park were cut down.

In 1969, however, with the reorganization of the Park Authority, all the felling of trees for industrial purposes was prohibited, a ban that succeeded in putting a stop to rampant forest speculation. Following years of indiscriminate abuse, the Park's forests now 'rest', carefully preserved in order that as far as possible they return to their original, undi¬sturbed state, to the benefit of both animals - which will get back their natural habitat - and humans, who will be able to enjoy their natural beauty.

Beyond the upper limit of the forests we find creeping dwarf juniper (juniperus com-munis nana), and relicts of northern moorland such as bil¬berry (Vaccinium myrtillus) and bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), which reveal the past presence of a higher level of conifer vegetation.

 High pastures, which together with meadows and clearings cover more than 30% of the Park's overall territory, are typical of the high parts of mountains, occupying ridges and peaks at around 1,900 - 2,000 meters. Here the vegetation consists mainly of grasses and sedges. In spring the blooming of the yellow gentian is particularly noti¬ceable. But all parts of the Park in spring and summer are graced with a myriad of blooming flowers whose colors range from vivid tones to more delicate pastel shades: blue and yellow gentians, primroses, cyclamens, violets, anemones, squills, lilies, orchids, saxi¬frage, buttercups, sweet woodruff, hellebores and liverworts.

Particularly attractive are the orange lily (LiHum bulbiferum croceum), growing on dry, sunny slopes, the martagon lily (Lilium martagon), which grows in more open beech woods, the columbine (Aquilegia ottonis), common in pastures and on uncultivated land, the deep-blue Apennine gentian (Gentiana dinarica), and the above-mentioned Marsican iris.

But undoubtedly the most famous flower in the park is the lady's-slipper (Cypripedium calceolus), a black and yellow orchid which grows in the heart of the integral reserve, a surviving relict of remote times. This plant, which also grows in the Alps, risks extinction because it is thoughtlessly gathered by irresponsible day-hikers during their excursions. It is vital, therefore, that it receives adequate protection.