Keywords

The vascular flora of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park has been the subject of more or less extensive research since the first half of the nineteenth century. The first complete list of flora in the protected area, limited to the Abruzzo region, was published in 1959–1960 by Anzalone and Bazzichelli (1960), followed by an update published by Conti (1995) and also including the regions of Lazio and Molise.

The necessity for an updated list of flora incorporating the latest nomenclatural and floristic novelties (especially during the last decade) led to preparation of this flora.

The list of plants was extrapolated from a geographic database including all data from floristic or vegetational references and herbarium specimens concerning the Park area.

This data storage tool was obtained from the database of Abruzzo vascular flora (Conti et al. 2010), adapted to the study area by the addition of the areas of the Park falling in the regions of Lazio and Molise with related floristic and vegetational data. Analysis of the data entered enabled gaps in the floristic knowledge of the Park, such as little or unexplored areas, to be identified, together with the species records requiring confirmation or further study. On the basis of these deductions, field work for the collection of new floristic data was carried out. Verification of the correct identification of herbarium specimens collected in the past, as well as systematic study of critical genera, was also important.