RE: more taxonomy

At 08:00 AM 3/22/99 +0800, Rod wrote:
 
>during my few weeks in Rome last year 
>I spent a lot of time walking around and most was spent
>looking at all the plants growing in the walls, cracks in the cobbles
>and in the open spaces (not really parks, more like public reserves???
>Alessandra would have a better phrase to describe them)

Are you referring to places like Villa Borghese, Villa Doria Pamphili, Villa
Ada etc? They were private properties of the nobles in the past, and today
we still call them Villas, le ville. 
>
anyway they were full of these "tough" plants, Acanthus mollis, Oxalis spp.
>Urtica urens, Galium aparine, a bunch of annual Asteraceae spp. I wasn't
>familiar with, some Brassicaceae as well, wall pellitory everywhere
>(Parietaria officinalis??) 

Yes. Tough little thing with the strongest root system on earth. Try to weed
a garden that is almost all made of ancient walls and rockeries, where the
thug has had  a hold  for about 100 years! Teh roots reach down as deep as
the Antipodes, for what I know (which would be New Zealand). And my head
gardener is teribly allergic to it. But I can say at least two nice things
about this plant: first, as a child I used to press its leaves on my clothes
and they would stay, creating wonderful decoration. This si due to their
hairy, sticky lower side of the leaves, and all children learn this trick
very son. Second, traditionally the whole plant (stems and leaves) was used
to wash and polish bottles and glasses,  and it really works marvelous! This
explains  the local name of "erba vetriola" (glass grass).

Rubus sp. 

I can't remember its name now, it is the fruiting one (what do you call it?
blackberry?)

and that horrible tree whose names
>escapes me, the legume that grows everywhere, Alessandra??

Robinia pseudacacia L.  THE pest. 
BTW, local Public green consultants still plant Robinia umbraculifera in
parking lots and new parks, on the ground it is a fast grower and does not
bloom (for allergies etc). Of course it is grafted on Pseudacacia and of
course after a short while, and no maintenance,  the invader starts to send
suckers everywhere, kills the scion and  conquers a new area. 

A good description of the commonest Roman weeds, Rod, but you forgot the
much hated Ailanthus,   and then the nice ones: Capparis, Anthirrinum, Fig.

Alessandra
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