Article

Polygala amadei (Polygalaceae) is described from Nebrodi Mountains in Sicily. Related to P. preslii, the other Sicilian endemic of the genus, it differs from it both for its morphological characters and for its different phenology and ecology. Its population, although localized, occurs in a vast mountain territory, located in the north-eastern sector of the island of Sicily, rich in woods and large clearings, which have been grazed by cattle, sheep and horses for centuries. Confused in the past with the endemic P. preslii, the new species is sufficiently distinct and is also related to subspecies of P. alpestris from the south of the Italian Peninsula. In addition to the diagnostic characters and a brief analysis of the relationships with some similar taxa occurring in southern Italy, the ecological and chorological characters of the new taxon are reported, then comparing them with P. preslii, with which the Nebrodi species still remains highly related.