Читать книгу Walking in Sicily онлайн

36 страница из 69

Orchis italica is a rare delight

Back in the lowlands, the unusual dwarf fan palm, the sole native palm in Europe, is widespread in Sicily, and its dried fronds are still woven into robust baskets, as in the past. A stockier, orange-tinted ornamental palm which harks from the Canary Isles can be found in many a public garden. The spiky fleshy leaves of the monstrous agave, or century plant, punctuate the Sicilian landscape nowadays, far from its native Mexico. Its impressive candelabra-like flowers, marking the end of the plant’s life, appear on stems reminiscent of gigantic asparagus, straight out of a science fiction film. The very first agave in Italy was planted in the botanical gardens of Padua in 1561.

Pretty rock roses

Zàgara is the Arabic/Sicilian name for the heady scent of oranges and lemons in blossom, a familiar delight to springtime travellers. The trees were imported from Asia long ago and now form the backbone of the agricultural world in Sicily. Loquat trees laden with their refreshing orange globe fruit, a 19th-century arrival from Japan, are a common sight alongside the citrus orchards. Another staple, the olive, native oleasters were improved by grafting cuttings from related cultivated types which came with early Greek settlers.