-a 
ON THE VEGETATION OF ETNA. 91 
by the Italian botanists; but M. Gemmel- 
laro calls it Quercus Robur, a tree that 
also particularly forms the woods of the 
Apennines, at least in the North of Italy; 
it differs from our Oaks, at first sight, by its 
inferior dimensions and less knotted stem. 
Travellers who climb the mountain by the 
common road from Nicolosi see scarcely 
any other tree; it ascends from 3,200 to 
5,000, and on the eastern side, in the Val 
del Leone, to 5,100. Quercus Cerris is 
found in the latter place in tolerable plenty, 
but not higher than 4,600. Quercus Ilex, 
the Evergreen Oak, reaches from the hills 
of the coast, where it is the most prevailing 
kind of tree, to the Rocca della Capre, 
3,800 feet. The Beech (^ Fagus sylvatica) 
is not found below 3,000 above the sea in 
Sicily ; its lower boundary in the kingdom 
of Naples seems to be 2,952: it covers the 
steep declivities of the Val del Bove, as 
low trees or shrubs, whence it ascends 
from the Serra del Salfizio to 6,000, and is 
particularly plentiful on the East side of 
the mountain. But there is a tree that is 
Seen at a still greater elevation, and which, 
being a native of the North of Europe, 
might not be expected to occur upon Etna 
at all, namely, the Birch (Betula alba É), 
It is not found on the whole line 
of Apennines, in the kingdom of Naples, 
except at the most southern end, where it 
grows in the moist woods of the Aspro- 
monte, where, according to Tenore's rec- 
koning, it does not exceed the elevation of 
5,600. The lowest point where we saw 
the Birch was in the Val del Bove at 4,761, 
m the Val del Leone and at Monte Arvol- 
tojo at 6,100, where it forms little woods. 
A species of Pine (Pinus sylvestris), ac- 
cording to Presl and Gemmellaro, but 
according to Professor Link, P. Laricio, 
18 à Very stately tree, although I have seen 
no stems higher than 120 or 130 feet, as 
M. Tenore did in the Sila Woods of Cala- 
ta. We observed the first of these in 
the Val del Bove at 4,000 feet, and at 
1,600 to 5,600 in the Val del Leone. On 
T Monte Arvoltojo this tree reaches to 6,200, 
but only in little groupes or scattered indi- 
viduals. The Aspen (Populus tremula) 
grows on the Giammicola at 5,500; the 
Holly (lex Aquifolium) in great numbers, 
and with trunks twelve feet high, accompa- 
nies it; while both are scarcely seen higher 
up than 4,600 feet on the Alps. Acer villo- 
sum, Presl, and Monspessulanum, with the 
beautiful G'enista Etnensis, are peculiar to 
this region. The latter assumes the ap- 
pearance of a tree about Nicolosi, where it 
is planted, and where its long, slender, 
pendent, leafless branches recall to mind 
the Casuarinas of New Holland, when 
they are not covered with the numerous 
yellow flowers. In its wild station in the 
Val del Bove, from 3,900 to 6,000 feet up 
the mountain, it retains its shrubby mode 
of growth and does not assume the foreign 
appearance which I have just described. 
Among the other shrubs, I would particu- 
larly specify the Spurge-Laurel (Daphne 
Laureola), of which the range is from 
2,790 to 4,000 feet, and the Tree Heath 
(Erica arborea), which grows singly on 
Etna at 3,800 feet of elevation, whilst on 
the Canary Islands it ascends to 4,200 feet. 
Towards the end of the woody region, Ju- 
niperus hemispherica, Presl, begins to ap- 
pear; Astragalus Siculus is plentiful at 
4,800, and Berberis vulgaris, B. macro- 
cantha (B. Etnensis, Presl); but this latter 
plant rather belongs to the upper than the 
woody region. At the commencement of 
the woody region our kinds of fruits thrive 
best; for at a lower elevation the warmth 
is too great, so that their produce is of very 
inferior quality. Cherries grow well at 
Portella 2,970 feet, and Pears and Apples 
in the district called Tardaria, which may 
be situated at about 3,400 feet above the 
level of the sea. Nothing else is cultivated 
in the woody region but Rye (Secale ce- 
reale). This species of grain is said to 
have been originally introduced by King 
Victor Amadeus from Germany in the be- 
ginning of the last century, an idea which 
is confirmed by the circumstance of its be- 
ing called, in addition to the name of Se- 
gala, Grano Tedesco. It is sown in Sep- 
