The neglected herbarium of Emanuele Taranto Rosso (Sicily, 1801-1887)

Abstract

The neglected Herbarium of Emanuele Taranto Rosso (Sicily, 1801-1887). Emanuele Taranto Rosso, eclectic naturalist of the XIX Century, founded a scientific and didactic centre of Natural History and Archaeology in Caltagirone, one of the towns in the province of Catania in eastern Sicily (southern Italy). In this paper, we report and evaluate the size of his herbarium donated to the centre. According to the published catalogue, originally the Herbarium of Taranto Rosso comprised 776 specimens, which included wild and cultivated plants collected by this skillful researcher in the surroundings of Caltagirone. In addition, the Herbarium contained several specimens purchased or exchanged with other Sicilian naturalists. Currently this collection includes only 393 exsiccata. The revision of these specimens, long since forgotten in the Lyceum “Bonaventura Secusio” of Caltagirone, gives useful information in order to evaluate the contribution of Taranto Rosso to the knowledge of the Sicilian flora. Our study includes also the list of the taxa and the analysis of the most significant specimens.