The Shining Tuft of the Screes

Habit: It develops compact tufts with ascending stems. A key diagnostic feature is the base of the plant, wrapped in old leaf sheaths that do not break into fibres but remain intact, forming a rigid greyish sleeve 4-7 cm long. Leaves: 2-3 mm wide, glaucous and distinctly glossy, shining in sunlight. The ligule, the small membrane between sheath and blade, may be truncate or acute and is about 1-2 mm long. Flowers: Arranged in a dense ovoid spike made bristly by the presence of elongated awns. Fruits: A caryopsis, ovoid to oblong and slightly compressed. Flowering: June-July.

Chorological type: Italian endemic. Distribution: Found in the Central and Southern Apennines, as far as the Pollino massif, and in Sicily, where it inhabits the slopes of Etna and the Madonie. Habitat: A specialist of mobile screes and consolidated stony slopes, strictly on calcareous substrates, between 600 and 2000 m above sea level.

Generic name (Sesleria): Dedicated to Leonardo Sesler, the Venetian physician and botanist who curated important botanical collections in the eighteenth century. Specific name (nitida): From the Latin nitidus, “shining” or “glossy”, chosen to describe the almost metallic brilliance of its glaucous leaves.

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It is considered an entity of high conservation value because of the fragmentation of its stations and the specificity of its habitat. For these reasons, it has been officially included in the Red List of the Flora of Italy as a rare species, requiring specific attention in the management plans of the protected areas where it grows.