Article

Thc experimental cultivation of vascular taxa both rare or endemic to Sicily has been carried Qut in arder lO acquire infonnation on their rcproductive biology, phenology and life eyclc, with thc aim to give a basic tool for thc conservation ex situ ofthc most threatened among them. The research concerned 111 specific and infraspecific taxa belonging to 28 families, among which Asteraceae, Plumbaginaceae, Liliaceae, Cruciferae, Fabaceae and Caryophytlaceae were mostly represented. The cultivation was conducted using whole plants, parts of them and sees. Per each taxon 3·4 specimens were used, having care do not affect the population in the collecting localities. This materiaI, was placed to sprout in pto within the Palermo Botanical garden, under different substrate conditions de pending on thc specific cases. After sprouting (more then 70% successful) it was planted in plots at Ficuzza, a hitly locality south of Palermo. Of these reproduced plants, about 80% flowered and 50% beared fruits. Their seeds were sowed in the Botanical garden of Palermo and rapidly germinated especially as far as the genera to Stipa, Cerinthe, Piptatherum, Rhus, Relama, Syderilis, Trifolium and Achyranthes are concerned .The vegetative propagation tests on Berberis, Bupleurum, Celtis, Iberis, Genista, Rosa, Salvia, Thymus, carried out in pots without using rhizogen honnones, had a limited result.