Once endemic in northern Sicily mountains, the Abies nebrodensis had been considered extinct since 1900. It was rediscovered in 1957 in the Vallone degli Angeli inside Madonie area, where there are only around thirty specimens, probably survived thanks to isolation and the reduced competitiveness of other stronger local species, such as the beech (Fagus sylvatica). […]

The description, albeit brief, of Madonie’s Park vegetation, can not be said exhausted without a necessary side note on the endemic flora and the rare plants that thrive in this amazing green universe. It is a rich and precious floral heritage that include exclusive species, in addition to some rarities at regional and national levels. […]

In Petralia Sottana, in Raffo Fraction,is located the one of Europe richest salt deposits, enclosed in a salt lens inside the heart of the mountain at 1100 meters above sea level. The salt field, 250 meters thick and 2 km² large, contains salt with a purity of sodium chloride equal to 99.9%. It is assumed […]

The Scillato Blonde Orange is a navel orange variety distinguished in three typologies: Washington Navel, Nareline and Navelate. With the terminology navel orange are indicated those orange varieties which have a “twin fruit” inside their peel, located in the place of the petiole. In Scillato area these varieties have ideal conditions and thanks to the […]

The ash begins to produce the manna at an age between 6-8 years, but not all plants come into production at the same age and in the same period. The maturation in fact, depends on a few factors: besides the variety, also the soil nature, exposure and altitude are important. The productive season starts depending […]

The small treasure of Madionie food traditions. For more than two centuries in Polizzi Generosa gardens, inside the Madonie Natural Park, grows a small-medium rounded bean, called in dialect “badda”, which means ball. It’s a bean uniquely coloured with two tones, with a clear division between the two distinct colours which may be ivory with […]

The “Bosco di Favara e Bosco Granza” protected area covers an agricultural land belonging to Aliminusa, Cerda, Montemaggiore Belsito and Sclafani Bagni municipalities. Flora The area is dominated by cork oaks, flowering ashes and holm oaks. The shrubs in the undergrowth are the species typically spread in Sicilian woods, such as blackthorn, hawthorn, crab apple, […]

The St. Calogero Mountain Range is a massif consisting of limestone, dolomite and siliceous layers, and Numidian Flysch sediments. The ridges fractures which have formed over centuries created a landscape contrast between the rugged and wild peaks walls and the gentle valleys foothills. The limestrone rocks erosion and the runoff phenomena led to deep gorges […]