I fitotoponimi della Calabria meridionale: uno strumento per l’analisi del paesaggio e delle sue trasformazioni.

Phytotoponims of southern Calabria: a tool for the analysis of the landscape and its transformations. A contribution to the phytotoponymsof the Southern Calabria (south Italy) is presented. The basic sources of data for this research were field interviews and topographic maps. Totally 814 plant place names have been recorded, referring to135 taxa. Most of these derived from Latin or Greek. The most commonplants used as place names are species of agricultural interest (Vitis vinifera 3.6%, Olea europaea subsp. europaea 3.3%, Citrus sp. 2.1%) and other of forestry interest (Castanea sativa 3.2%, Quercus pubescens 3.3%, Quercus suber 1.8%; Quercus frainetto 1.5%). Many of surveyednames are referred to plant communities rather than to single species.The study showed that the phytotoponymy is an important tool in the analysis of the territory and its transformations. The landscape changes affecting particularly the coastal and hilly belt as a result of the utilization of natural resources and the abandonment of ancient cultivation practices.