The flora of the northern Aurunci Mountains

Not far away from their southern slopes, one or two miles inland on the slopes facing the northern and internal mountains and hills, the Aurunci Mountains display different scenery. If travellers could see the Aurunci Park like when flying the sight would certainly be fascinated by the green mantle of beech forests. Here, the beech finds the right volume of rains which are a lot more abundant and frequent than only few miles away on the Aurunci southern slopes.

This is because the warmer winds from the sea meet the cooler mass of air from the sub-Apennines peaks. The northern Aurunci mountains range display several peaks over 1000 metres with the highest Mount Petrella (1533 mt.). The vegetation is a lot more luxuriant especially on the higher and cooler hills.

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Here the Mediterranean evergreen maquis of the southern slopes give place to a greener landscape ranging gradually from a low bush area with shrubs, terebinth, broom and heather to a scrub of holm oak, cork-trees, hornbeam, durmast, manna-has and field maple. The contrast of this greener side of the Aurunci Mountains with the karst origin of their mountains’ peaks makes a dramatic natural scenery of outstanding beauty. Here on the northern Aurunci the immediate countryside landscape displays patches of dense, dark green forest alternate with open pastures and light-coloured lime stones that often forms large heaps.

Large woodland of beech are found in the area of Campodimele, Mt Ruazzo, and on the northern slopes of Mt St Angelo and Mt Redentore. These internal territories were the refuge chosen by adventurers some of them outlaws some others patriots. Outlaws of all kind came here living untouched to escape justice when impenetrable forests covered completely this territories. Today many of the local forests have disappeared due millennia of antropic presence and use. Nevertheless, there are still large forests covering the internal sides of the Aurunci Mountains.

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Areas with lower bush with shrubs, terebinth, broom and heather alternate with a greener and cooler mountainside. Here, in wilder side of the Aurunci we find areas covered with a scrub of holm oak, field-maple, cork tree, hornbeam and durmast. These are landscapes that represent well the essential characteristics of the territory and that allow travellers to feel in harmony with the nature of these places. The karst nature of the Aurunci Mountains created many natural underground caves and wells where rain water is collected and represent a huge natural patrimony for geologists and speleologists.

On the cooler internal slopes the typical tree population includes patches of both Mesoeuropean and Deciduous oak woodland with Turkey oak (Quercus cerris), Hop Hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia), Oriental hornbeam (Carpinus orientalis), Manna Ash (Fraxinus ornus), Evergreen Oak (Quercus Ilex), Downy Oak (Quercus pubescens) and Cork Oak (Quercus suber) all mostly on between 600-900 metres of altitude.

Higher up between 800 and 1200 metres, towards the taller peaks, large prairies of Bromus erectus and Brachypodium rupestre dominated grasslands plateaux with spectacular displays of colours during the spring. Other species of trees typical of this area are Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas), Manna or Flowering Ash (Fraxinus ornus), Field Maple (Acer campestre), Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha), Mountain ash (Sorbus terminalis). Further north in the park, especially on the northern borders it is common to see also Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus), European aspen (Populus tremula), Common Ash (Fraxinus excelsior), Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa) and Horse Chestnut (Aeculus hippocastanum). The higher mesophilous deciduous woodlands are dominated by the presence of beech (Fagus sylvatica).

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