|
|
THE
SALENTO – TERRESTRIAL LANDSCAPE
 The
Salento - a land between two seas
If
you tell that the Salento does not mean only sea, that could sound
 a
banal thing, but it is not since until some years ago the population of the
Salento thought exactly
the contrary. For
them, the land where they lived meant above all sweat and work ( nonetheless
they liked cultivating it) while the sea was always seen with suspect, so they
were frightened by this immense, omnipresent blue universe. That is why the job
of the fisherman was underestimated,
probably because men were aware of the dangers of the sea, so they tried to warn
their children against the sea in order to convince them not to become
fishermen. This
particular relationship with the sea was noticed by a scholar, Calamonico, who
in 1917 in his work about the main areas of raininess and density of population
in the province of Lecce (published in
"Rivista Geografica Italiana" wrote that most of the inhabited centres
lay not near the seaside (as it usually happens) but far from it since the sea
was seen as an element of repulsion.
 That is why the only wild zones
still intact in the Salento are those near the coast, where nothing was
cultivated, while in the hinterland, almost all the spaces were used
for agricultural and urban reasons. It
is a good thing to specify that the Salento is not poor of spaces and natural
environments, on the contrary, there are a lot
of uncontaminated natural spaces and they are
safeguarded. The
human impact on the territory has not always been deleterious, because the
wonderful olive-trees (a real green
constant of the landscape) and the innumerable constructions in stone, like the
classical small walls and the typical "pajare" (from the dialect
"paja"= straw, a typical construction, often called
"trullo", with circular or square shape, used by the farmers as a
shelter, or replacement for their tools) melt with the natural landscape. Walking
around in the country it is not rare to see
a stately exemplary of Vallonea oak, a true "witness" of the
past , perfectly integrated among the olive-trees ( they are secular too):
in a small grove
 near
Tricase there is the oldest known sample of Vallonea oak, 600 years old. If you
want to understand thoroughly the characteristics of the flora and of the fauna
of the Salento it is necessary to analyse this land form the geographical point
of view, to know the climate in order to make out
the distribution of the plants and of the animals on the territory. The
Salento is
around 150 km long: in the Salento there are no mountains, in fact the
landscape is rather plain, except for the most southern area where there are the
characteristic "serre", some small
mountainous ridges not very elevated,
long and without strong
subsidences, the highest of them it is that of S. Eleuterio, 195 m above the sea level and it is near Parabita. Due to the
absence of mountains the Salento is exposed to the winds, the most
important are the Sirocco, hot and damp, coming from the South-East and the
south-west wind,that is hotter than the first one, because since it leaves most
of the dampness in Sicily and Calabria.
In summer the most
frequent winds come from the north
or north-west and often all the country is exposed to the strong Grecale, thus
causing some
 sea-storms along the Adriatic slope. The
climate, for different motives, is
considered one of the most constant of Italy; in fact the meteorological station
of Santa Maria di Leuca, is the only one in the peninsula that in the last years
has recorded the smallest difference between the highest end the lowest
temperature(21.0°C and 26.4°C). Probably
this is caused by the sea, which
accumulates a big quantity of heat in summer, that then surrenders very
gradually during in winter. All that is closely connected to
the raininess, quite scarce, indeed in the last decade these lands have
been afflicted by problems of drought. So the climate of the Salento is
moderate, with long hot summers and short mild winters. There
are different typical landscapes that are very near; in fact the longest
distance between the Adriatic and the Ionian slopes in about 40-45 km, the same
distance existing between Otranto
and Gallipoli):
ü
Sandy Landscape
ü
Damp
landscape
ü
Rocky
coastal Landscape
ü
Hinterland
Sandy
landscape
This
kind of landscape is often exposed to notable variations, caused essentially by
 the
erosive strength of the wind and from the tides, that in some cases modify a lot
the morphology. For this reason this landscape is often inhospitable and
therefore poorly populated by plants and animals. This happens above all in the
zones near the sea while
at the borders of the beach there are some plants that are delimited by a rocky
tall wall and favours the
accumulation of the sediments transported by the sea, like near Torre dell'Orso;
or some barriers of sand, the dunes, rise and they mark the border
between the beach and the landscape at the back of the dunes. Due
to the protective action of the sand dunes, these lands
are often so fertile that they can be cultivated, as you can see near
Torre Vado. The action
of the dunes is closely connected to the very typical vegetation of this area :
these plants grow in particular
conditions since the land is not consolidated, it is just sandy. Besides, the
local waters in the subsoil have a salty 
concentration
higher than that of the sweet
waters, so these plants often must
overcome this type of problem. These plants, in order to live in this
environment, has developed
particular thin roots,
similar to hair, that infiltrate between the microscopic spaces left by the
grains of sand, to find water. What is more these plants can
absorb the liquid and hold it: they accumulate
inside a higher quantity of
salts than the external environment. The
stem too has peculiar structures called rhizomes: it is hidden in the ground (so
it does grow on the surface), it is horizontal and it makes the
dunes resistant
to the flow of the wind and to the other erosive phenomena. As
the part of the plant exposed to
the light of the sun is concerned, it must be strong enough to
resist the elevated temperatures in
the summer: to avoid the complete
 dewatering they often present fleshy leaves,
watery and recovered with thorns, easily visible in the cactus. They are not
tall, they lie outstretched on the ground, that is why they are defined
"prostrate". Near the waterline the vegetation is particularly scarce,
somewhere absent: the only plants you can find here are the polygon of the sands
(Polygonum maritimum), that is very common on our shores. Towards
the hinterland you can see the characteristic couch-grass of the beaches (Sporobulus
pungens) belonging to the family of the Graminacee, that together to
other plants belonging to
the same family, contributes to the
consolidation of the substratum and it allows the taking root also to other
kinds of vegetation, as the lily of the dunes (Pancratum maritimum) whose
flower is very white , or the Eryngium maritimum, whose leaves are thorny
and its flowers are gathered as into a spherical parasol. Other types of
plants are the shrubby ones, with stems more or less woody, that
make more
compact the ground on which they lie, thus representing the
last obstacle against the erosion. Some
examples are the Acacia cyanophylla, an evergreen plant, perennial,
bushy and the Pistacia
lentiscus with the characteristics red berries. Not
only the flora is characteristic,
also the local fauna in these environments is rather typical, both for the
dimensions, never excessively developed, and for the behaviour, prevalently
night time or however connected to the hours of the day less hot. Most
of the animals are invertebrate, such as
a lot of bugs, equipped with cutaneous external covering they abandon, replacing
it with a bigger one, after each ecdysis. A typical inhabitant of the dunes is
the curious beetle called Scarabeus semipunctatus. On
the dunes you can also find an other kind of beetle , more fluorescent
 than the
precedent, the beetle rhino (Oryctes nasicornis), so called for its long
bent "horn", very similar to that of the big African herbivore. Both
these beetles are able to fly, but their flight
is rather heavy and noisy, it is very different from that of many elegant
butterflies, like the Charaxes jasius that is colourful and it can be
seen especially in autumn and in
winter. Another very common bug is the noisy cricket (Lyristes plebejus)
that is a real sonorous column in hot summer afternoons. Among
the vertebrates, such as the reptiles that often eat the plants mentioned above,
there is the lizard (Podaricus sicula), that can be seen above all from
the spring to the autumn.
Damp
environment at the back of the dunes
The most important
example of this kind of environments is surely the reserve of the Cesine, on the
Adriatic coast near the commune of Frigole, at a few km from Lecce.
 It has been a natural oasis protected by the WWF for a long time, and it has
been studied by a lot of researchers and people passionately fond of nature. On
the same slope, you can see some marshy environments, all enough assembled
around the zone of the coast that goes from Casalabate
to Otranto, where northwards there are the Alimini Lakes (very important
from the naturalistic point of view). Along the Ionic slope , it is still
possible to see some damps brackish basins, like those that
from the beach of the Angels go to
Porto Cesareo, and those between Torre
San Giovanni, near the commune of Ugento,
and Torre Mozza (all these basins communicate with the sea artificially and in
some cases they are regularly used as plants for the fish culture. The
reserve of the Cesine is an excellent example as a protected area for its
dimensions and its good conditions: there you can discover an enormous variety
of vegetables, some growing in the damp sea or brackish environment and others
in the sweet water. In
the area closer to the sea, where the water is more salted, there are some
plants called
 “alophila”
since thy can grow in very salted areas: they look like a cane thicket, made up
above all of Juncus
maritimum and Juncus
subulatus, among which there are other types of plants such as the
Aster tripulium and other more ancient plants as the
Ipomea sagittata (that is gradually disappearing, in fact it is
present only near the Cesine and in other few Italian areas : it is peculiar for
its typical bell-shaped flowers and its pink colour. Its gradual disappearance
is due essentially to its specific characteristics since it can grow only in
places where there is a certain
quantity of salt. In the most damp areas there are other types of plants: the
water lilies, the orchids as the
beautiful Orchis palustris and the Orchis laxiflora. In the
lands that are less damp you can find the big thorny rush (Juncus
acutus) and a lot of plants called Carex carex; you can also see a
luxuriant pine-wood that is turning into macchia mediterranea for the
gradual natural substitution of Pinus pinea and Pinus maritimum
with the most typical component of the Mediterranean wood
of evergreen broadleaf (plant with wide leaves), that is the holm-oak (Quercus
ilex). The brushwood is full of shrubby plants,
very perfumed too, as the Myrtus communis, the heather (Erica
Arborea),
 the lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus), typical of these zones, and the
the Erica manipuliflora that finds its origins in the Balkans. About
the most typical fauna there are the amphibians, like the common toads (Bufo
bufo) and the frogs (Rana esculenta), but you can also see the newts,
as the Triturus cristatus and the Triturus italicus. The former is
marked by a brownish back, with darker punctuations and the abdomen is yellow,
orange or orange- reddish, and it has always
characteristic blackish
stains. This animal can reach a maximum length of 18 cm (the female) or 14 (the
male). The former, instead, is
typical of the southern Italy, it is dark green,
smaller than the previous one, since it is long
11 cm at the most. Both live in contact with the sweet water and they usually stay on dry land only for a short
period of the year. Almost
all the amphibians constitute the favourite food of several reptiles, as the Natrix
natrix, very common in the damp areas and whose colour changes often. This
reptile has a characteristic yellow collar (but sometime it is white , orange
or red) behind the
 head:
being a skilled swimmer it goes shooting in water above all tadpoles, frogs and
small fish. An other
reptile, but very different from the previous one, is the turtle
(Emys arbicularis) whose carapace is
oval , brownish, frequently marked by clear yellow dots and striations:
It eats fish, amphibians and invertebrate and because of the constant reduction
of its habitat the turtle is disappearing in the Salento, and it survives only
in the Oasis of the Cesine. In
the Salento you can also see a lot of different birds and some of them are
migratory. In the
periods of transit or during all year long, the people who are fond of
birdwatching (observation of the birds in their natural environment admire the
splendid white herons (Egretta dawn), up the trees or while they are
fishing in the low coastal waters. An other bird good at fishing, it is the
black cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), that has got a long beak and it
can be seen while it stands in erect position on the rocks and
its wings not completely
open;
 often you can also see this bird jumping from the rocks
in order to chase the fish.
A very similar bird, even if it is
completely black, is the “marangone dal ciuffo” (Phalacrocorax
aristotelis), that often nidifies near
the colonies of cormorants, up the trees or on the rocks. In
winter you can see big flocks of coots (Fulica atra), a big aquatic bird,
that has got a black plumage, but with the characteristic beak and an ample
frontal plate completely white. Often it swims together to other ducks, such as
the real German (Anas platyrhynchos), with the classical yellow beak and
the beautiful wedding male plumage, characterized by the green head with
metallic reflexes, and a thin white ring around the neck. Sometime these birds
represent an irresistible call for some rapacious birds, like the hawk of swamp
(Circus aeroginosu) that chases in the reeds. Other
types of birds are the “tuffetto” (Podiceps ruficollis) , the
colourful kingfishers (Alcedo atthis) that have got a blue, green
plumage, a low and rapid flight and seldom you can admire the
unmistakable pink flamingos (Phoenicopterus
ruber).
Rocky
coastal environment
The morphology of the
coasts of the Salento is the evident result of that typical phenomenon of this
Italian region : the karst phenomena. The chemical-physical
 composition
of the ground and other characteristics of the rock make this place
really spectacular. The beauty and the variability of the rocky coastal
environment of the Salento is one of the reasons for which it is worth visiting
this land. Walking
along the coast along both the slopes, it is possible to appreciate some
wonderful landscapes and some of
them are still wild and they have
not been spoiled by the man, as the
long gullies, dug by ancient courses of water, that from the hinterland go
toward the blue intense of the sea, particularly the one near Porto Badisco, at
the south of Otranto, and that of the Ciolo in the commune of
Gagliano del Capo.
The Neretina coast too, on the ionic shore, is an example of the immense riches
that this land “kissed” by the sun offers to the visitor. This is the reason
for which some years ago this zone was
at the centre of an active campaign against the realization of a plan of
apportionment that would have changed the landscape a lot. After that campaign a
Regional Park was created to
safeguard the whole territory and promote a sustainable development of
that area. These
environments are very important since they often “hide” wonderful surprises:
Many rocky sheer promontories above the sea that
 apparently appear lifeless and totally inhospitable, represent instead, the
ideal habitat of several animals and plants. The
particularities of these plants (and some
of them are very beautiful) are so interesting that they
deserve a detailed analysis about their
morphology and their area of distribution. In
the far south of the peninsula you can see the cornflower of Leuca (Centaurea
leucadea), a plant to belonging the family of the Compositae, as the chicory
and the artichoke, and marked by a grassy shrubby appearance (a plant endowed
with a tender stem and bush-shaped). It
was discovered in the 1925 by Lacaita, a botanist from Apulia that
individualized this rare plant with pink
flowers present only in the rocky
landscape of Novaglie, and of the Capo di Leuca, in general. The flowering of
the cornflower is usually in spring, and its leaves have a peculiar whitish down that protects them from the long exposures to the heat in
summer time. If you go northwards, and particularly along the coast that goes
from Otranto to Santa
Cesarea, in the more arid and bare sheer areas
above the sea, there is another typical plant, the Echinops
spinosissimus. This plant has got a flower visible only in summer: its
colour is almost blue-sky and it is similar to that of the thorny
sea-urchins, and it can grow in very hard and inhospitable environments (it
 usually
grows in zones that are eastern than Italy). The
common characteristic of these two rare plants is that they can be seen in a
very small geographical zone of a few km. Compatibly with the
environmental conditions, each living species occupies the surrounding territory
as much as it is possible in order to assure the continuation of its own kind.
The natural ecosystems are not ever static systems, on the contrary they are in
continuous evolution; so there are some areas where it is possible to notice
through the years a complete exchange of the plants, (and sometimes of the
animals too) that leads to the gradual but inexorable replacement of all
the living organisms by other more specialized and therefore mostly adapted
species. The environments that are more inhospitable,
where the cornflower and the spherodiscus, grow,
are not subject to great changes because of their morphology and their chemical and
physical characteristics , therefore the plants that can grow here are few and
they generally do not need particular feeding, that is why they are called
“pioneers”. Thanks to their great adaptability to inhospitable zones, as
cliffs or rocks, it is very easy to find this
 type of plants: they have got a grassy shrubby appearance, they are
very resistant to the saltiness and through their particular radical
apparatuses they can settle down firmly to the rocky substratum and insinuate
in depth to absorb the water, the precious element they need. Looking
from the sea towards the most inside zones of the rocky coast, you can see
different plants, at first isolated
and marked by a grassy appearance, after some metres more and more thick : they
are the well known macchia mediterranea. Between
the typically rocky plants (plants growing on the rocks) that can be found only
in the Salento, there are the
alisso of Leuca (Alyssum leucadeum), that like the cornflower is covered
with a dense whitish down, and other typical plants as the “campanula of
Apulia (Campanula versicolor), that grows exclusively in Apulia and in
Basilicata, and the Scrofularia. A climbing thorny plant, widespread in
the Salento is the caper (Capparis spinosa); the buds of its flowers,
when they are still very small, are put in a can containing some vinegar and
they are used to season numerous courses and the cool summer salads. An other
wild grass, the sea-fennel (Chritimum maritimum), is preserved with oil
and used as vegetables. Two
very good aromatic plants are the
rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) with its typical thin leaves, almost
needle shaped, very used to season the roast beef, and
the laurel (Laurus nobilis) a bush whose leaves
 are
often used for the preparation of excellent courses, or to aromatise liqueurs.
In the Salento, some people dry its leaves and add them to dried figs containing
an almond, a rich and natural snack for the children and the adult. The fig tree
(Ficus carica L.) grows spontaneously on the rocks and it is present
everywhere in the Salento. In
this rocky landscape you can also find two
other typical Mediterranean plants (even if both come
from the distant Mexico, from where they were introduced in the XVI
century for ornamental purposes ) that are the prickly pears (Opuntia
ficus-indica) and the agave (Agave amaricana L.). The
first tree is a perennial kind and can be some meters tall: it is often called
cactus but it is very different from it for its peculiar flattened
and segmented shape. It has got
very long thorns (called by the people of Salento “pale”)
and can even be half a metre long and 20-25 cm large. In the summer
period, on their leaves there are some fruits, also they thorny, but with very
 small thorns almost invisible, but annoying to the touch: they are ovoidal
shaped and their colour can vary from yellow to violet; o the inside a pulp,
equally coloured, very juicy and sweet, is rich of seeds. Often these fruits are
cooked to prepare jams or cookies. The
agave is not as tasty as the prickly pear but
it has a characteristic inflorescence (the disposition of the flowers of a
plant), and it is more than 5 meters tall. Also the agave
is a perennial plant, made up by the typical fleshy and very long leaves,
the thorny and toothed borders, with a big thorn at the top of the same leaf. It
can grow on the coastal rocky borders, but also on arid and sunny grounds. The macchia
mediterranea includes different types of bushes as the
myrtle (Myrtus communis), with its characteristics black-purplish
berries good for jams and liqueurs, and very appreciated by some animals like
many birds as the crows (Corvus corone cornix) and the omnipresent
magpies (Pica pica). One of the main
characteristic of this type of environment is however the notable variety of
perfumes breathe, crossing the numerous paths that coast along the coastal
shores.
The
environment of the hinterland
The
hinterland of the Salento is not very distant from the sea, that is why the
 climate
is always mild, also in winter. Just for these characteristics the flora and the
fauna assume the typical Mediterranean aspect, and they can survive in arid
environments. What most marks the landscape of the Salento is the constant presence of the
olive-trees, a green expanse that covers the whole Salento from a slope to the
other, almost assuming a character of monocoltura. This so adaptable and
fascinating plant grows everywhere, in the most fertile earth and in the rocks;
a popular motto affirms that the olivo, to live well, needs five essential
"S": silenzio, siccità, solitudine, sole e sassi ( meaning silence,
drought, loneliness, sun and stones). Obviously this is an exaggeration, but it
can explain the nature of this plant. Another important cultivation is the
grape, indeed the Salento is famous
for some special wines that are both red and rosy, many of them certified
(D.O.C.). The most famous areas for the production of vineyards are
Ugento,  Matino,
Galatina and Nardò on the ionic shore and
Salice Salentino and Carmiano. In the last few years flowers too are grown, above all near Gallipoli,
Taviano and Alezio, and they are sold everywhere in Italy. From this brief
introduction it is easy to understand that the agriculture plays an important
role in the economy of the Salento. This has influenced a lot the dimensions,
the nature and the maintenance of those areas
defined “wild” and generally covered with
the characteristic “macchia mediterranea” Some semi-natural wooded
areas are near Alessano,
Tricase, Ugento,
Presicce, Supersano, along the
Adriatic coast, as for instance in the natural oasis of the Cesine, S. Cataldo,
Frigole and the Alimini Lakes, near Otranto. On the opposite slope, the pinetes
are numerous near
 Gallipoli
and near Porto Cesareo , S. Caterina of
Nardò and Porto Selavaggio. These
places are defined semi-natural since man has modified the environment, its
diversity and quality. This is important because if
a field is left in state of total abandonment, a long and inexorable
sequence of invasions of different vegetable kinds would start,
and this process is called ecological
succession: after one year from the
abandonment, the field would already be covered with weeds, that would disappear
almost entirely after two or three years and replaced by perennial plants,
bushes and small trees. In practice the bushes replace the weeds and the small
trees become bigger and bigger , thus giving life to a thick wood. Once reached
this state, the change gets slower and this means that the ecological succession
has reached its state of climax. This is the ideal condition in which the
evergreen and latifoglia plants grow. As the macchia mediterranea is concerned,
its aspect changes since it is
influenced by some environmental and territorial characteristics: somewhere the
macchia mediterranea is represented
above all by plants having a tender stem, enough low, as the Cirsium
lanceolatum, Carduus argyroa, Carduus corymbosus, Silybum marianum, or the wild fennel (Phoeniculu vulgare) whose seeds are used for
seasoning the friselline. Besides
there is the
wild sage (fruticose Pholomis) and the wild carrot (Daucus carrot), very
common in the local cooking. Generally the Macchia Mediterranea is a vegetable
association unitary enough, constituted by entities showing adaptations and
modifications of the same type, as for example their dimensions: the leaves are
very small in order to reduce the transpiration at the most. Another
particularity is closely connected to the biological cycle that develops
especially in autumn - The more common shrubby
types are the heather (Heather manipuliflora) and the corbezzolo
(Arbustus unedo) with its red and globular fruits, very similar to big cherries,
with a juicy and rather sweet yellowish pulp. The fruit of a plant, the locust
(Ceratonia siliqua), until a few years ago was everywhere in the Salento,
and it was given to the horses. The
plant belongs to the family of the leguminoses
and the fruit is a leaning
pod, of dark brown color, leathery, flat, 20 centimeters
 long
and very perfumed. It contains some seeds, dark, called carats (from the Arabic
word Qirat), that for their constant weight were used to measure precious stones
and gold. This plant can assume a bushy aspect, but more commonly arboreal: it
can be 15 meters tall and its
foliage is very big and thick ; this
tree often grows with other plants
such as the Olea oleaster, and the
fig tree (Ficus carica). Among the vegetable kinds populating these areas there
are the shrubby plants, woody plants with a perennial stem as the Rosmarinus
officinalis, the Rubus ulmifolius, the myrtle (Myrtus communis) and a lot of
other plants that can grow more and more. The most typical trees of the zone are
without any doubt the Vallonea oak
(Quercus aegilops): now there are just few
samples of this tree and they can be seen near the commune of Tricase,
that boasts the presence of the oldest plant of the whole Salento (600 years ).
These stately trees have an imposing aspect: they can be
20 meters tall and the diameter of their trunk can be over 1 meter.
Besides they have got a wide foliage that, in the case of the sample of Tricase,
covers a surface of around 500 m2s. The leaves can be recognized for the notable
width and their indented borders, of almost oval shape and rather lengthened,
while the fruits (the acorns) are very big and mature at the
 end of autumn. A very common tree is
the holm-oak (Quercus ilex), that can assume both an arboreal conformation and a
bushy aspect: the leaves can have
the shape of an iron lance in the first case, while in the second they are
circular. The foliage is usually thick enough, ample and oval, slender upward,
while the bark is dark grey, smooth in the young samples, while in the old ones
it is made up of small plates. The
fruits are acorns, however smaller than those of the oaks. In the woods,
together with the leccio you can also see the Pinus Halepensis mill:
it can reach the 20 ms of height, and it adapts very well to the very
sunny zones being very resistant to the aridity. The trunk and the branches of
this tree are often bent and twisted and they have a bark that can change
coloration, becoming reddish. The leaves are narrow (in order to reduce the
transpiration) while the fruits are
constituted by pine-cones. In the Salento you can also see the characteristic
maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) with its long stem (that can overcome abundantly
the 25 - 30 ms ) and with the classical roundish chioma; also this pine has got
narrow leaves and conic pine-cones.
The
 domestic
pine (Pinus pinea), instead , is often cultivated, because its pine-cones
contain the pinolis, seeds used in Liguria as fundamental ingredient for the
pestum, while in the Salento they are used for the sweets. This is a tree that
can reach 25 ms of height and it needs a lot of light and heat. In the south of
the Salento there are different types of animals: from the smallest
invertebrates to the vertebrates dominated by the mammals. Among the bugs, there
is the Papilio machaon, a great very fluorescent and elegant
butterfly, yellow and black, and a wide blue string; this is one of the
greatest Italian diurnal butterflies. Others, instead, are completely
camouflaged in the vegetation as the Bacillus rossii that becomes invisible in
its natural habitat, the bushes. Finally the
famous Mantis religiosa known
for its particular habit to devour the companion, after being fecundated, but
that it is also an insatiable carnivorous that feeds on flies, grasshoppers,
butterflies and many other bugs. A very well known carnivorous bug is the
tarantula (Lycosa tarentula), a big spider of reddish grey color, with
 black sketches. In the past, the
people stung by this animal were thought to be "possessed" by its
spirit and the only way to set this person free
was a special dance called "pizzica” with an evident reference to
the puncture of the animal. Among the most tireless raiders of bugs there are
many vertebrates, as the Upupa epops that has got an the unmistakable aspect,
with the bent beak , a the long erectile crest, a brown plumage - rosy, and the
tail and the wings of white and black color. The upupa feeds on bugs and small
worms that finds near the macchia mediteranea. One of the most beautiful
and biggest birds is (above all the
male) the pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) having a long and pointed tail:
when this heavy animal is frightened, it flies away producing
a notable noise. Among the carnivorous birds living in the Salento, there
is the owl (Athene noctua) considered as bird of ill
 omen:
it is very useful since at night it hunts small rodents like mice and other
little animals. This animal is marked by a great head, a flattened
face and its eyes are
yellow. Even if it has predominantly nighttime habits, in the daytime, it can be
seen up the telegraphic poles, and
however near the countries. During a walk in the narrow country streets, it is
possible to hear lots of small birds cinguettare as the Erithacus rubecula, the
capinera (Sylvia atricapilla), the colored Carduelis carduelis and many others.
The nests of these birds are often ransacked by the reptiles, particularly by
the green ramarro (Lucerta viridis), that is a great lizard and by a snake
typical of the zone, the Elaphe quatuorlineata, the greatest
reptile in Italy
that can also reach 2,5 ms of length. It feeds on eggs of the fox (Vulpes
vulpes), one of the greater and fleeing wild mammals of the whole Salento,
unfortunately victim of nighttime road accidents. It
is a very bashful animal, living
above all in the woods, but
sometimes it gets close to the inhabited centers. It has got a long and thick tail and a reddish mantle. This animal feeds on fruits,
berries and dead animals. What is more this fox is a skilled huntress, that
captures often small rodents as the wild mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) and the
greatest and wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Among the other mammals you
can see the bashful Meles meles: it looks like a big dog , it has got a stumpy body and short legs, a
lengthened face and a thin head with some white and black longitudinal strips.
The dorsal mantle is greyish, the tail is short and grey. This animal
lives in underground dens that it digs with its strong legs, in woody
territories, but also in open pastures,
 and
in winter it falls in lethargy for the whole cold season. It usually feeds on
berries and fruit; it is often found eating sweets melons , so the peasants hunt
it and they call it malogna. Lately however it has become difficult to see this
animal, also for its nighttime habits. Another animal that lives among the
bushes, at the edges of the woods, but also in the gardens, is the curious
Erinaceus europaeus: this is
very active at night and to the twilight, when it abandons its nest of grass,
leaves and the whole vegetable material that it finds. It
feeds on bugs, snails, worms
and fruit.
The
olive tree, treasure of the Salento
The
olive tree is surely the most diffused plant of the whole Salento, and probably
it is the plant that better
represents the Mediterranean civilization. Its millennial history is a synthesis
between legend and reality; according to the Greek mythology it was the goddess
Minerva, challenged by Neptune, who made rise the first oil tree full of flowers
and fruits. This has been a symbol of peace for a long
 time. It seems that also during the war, Hannibal, that was very tired,
recommended to the Carthaginians to go and see Scipio
on the boats adorned of branches of this plant in order to be at peace
definitely. In 1969 (July), in a period marked by the success of technology,
when there was the first landing on the Moon, the American astronauts placed a
plate to remember that special mission, and it was engraved a branch of oil tree
as a symbol of peace. But surely the most famous episode closely connected with
this plant is that of the end of the Deluge and therefore of the divine
anger towards man, when the dove
gave to Noah a little branch of olive tree. In Italy when you celebrate the
Palms the branches of this plant are blessed and hanged to protect the family
during the whole year. As far as the human feeding is concerned the olive tree
has hot a notable importance: the oil that has two important characteristics: it
reduces the level of cholesterol in the blood and it is rich in antioxidants
that contribute to prevent cardio-vascular dysfunctions and to reduce the
general aging of the cells. Also for this motive, being a fundamental ingredient
of it, the Mediterranean diet it is considered by physicians, dieticians one of
the best ones.
The
Olea europae belongs to the Oleacees, it is an evergreen plant,
indeed there are several samples of ancient trees, while its leaves renew
every two - three years. From the aesthetical point of view it is surely one of
the most beautiful plants
 of
the Salento; it possesses a very wide radical apparatus , a trunk very rich in
ramifications that stretches out upwards and a thick and evergreen leafy branch.
The typical varieties of the low Salento are the Cellina of Nardò and
the Oglialora, from which a very delicate and perfumed oil is drawn,
excellent to season any dish both crush and raw. These plants sprout at 10 - 11 °Cs and it passes from the state of flower to that
of fruit, at 21 - 22 °Cs. In the period of the flowering, ( between April
and June), the tree is completely covered with small white flowers, the most
part of which falls and less than the 10% of the flowers reaches complete
maturation with the fruits. These last ones are very different for dimension
(from 1 to 10 gs). The olives mature between November and February, but the
moment of the harvest depends on many factors ( meteorological and climatic. The
methodologies of harvest are very different, according to the type of territory
on which the plants grow, and the type of system of the firm. The harvest can
be made through the following manual techniques:
ü The farmers pick
the olives up directly from the tree; this is a slow and expensive system since
it needs
a lot of manpower, but the crop is of good quality and above all the tree
is not spoiled.
ü
The
olives fall on some special sheets
under the trees and later the olives are
picked up by hand, with some special brooms or machines.
Recently
the olives are picked up through a peculiar mechanical “comb” that detaches
the olives from the ground, or through a mechanical arm that shakes the tree in
order to make the olives fall down. After
picking up the olives, they are taken to the oil mill , a place where they are
washed, and pressed within 48 - 72
 hours. There are two types of crusher: the traditional one in which the olives
are squeezed through one or more massive structure (rotating heavy wheels of
stone), and the industrial one. The must produced is often submitted to a
delicate remixing, so that the droplets of oil, in the following operation of
squeezing, become bigger and they can be separated more easily: this operation
is defined “gramolatua”. Then the mash is squeezed, with a slow but gradual
pressure, then the gotten oil is separated from the must ( oil, water, fragments
of pulp, peel and core). The oil still contains some vegetable residues that are
definitely eliminated through decantazione. Later the oil has to be preserved in
special containers, far from light and heat. The ideal temperature is between 12
and 14°C. Generally, if correctly preserved, the qualities of the oil stay
unchanged at least for one year. There are different types of oil: the
extravergine oil of olive and the virgin of olive. This classification is
closely connected to the legislation of the European Union, according to which
the oil of an edible olive can have four different denominations. Besides, by
law, the denomination "oil of olive" is reserved to the product made
without addition of extraneous substances and oils of other nature.
ü
Extravirgin
oil of olive: it is gotten by a mechanical system of squeezing of the
olives, and during the operations of washing, sedimentation and
filtering no substance is added and the level of acidity is less than 1
gram every 100 grams. The taste has to be absolutely perfect and the
organolectic level is equal or superior to 6,5.
ü
Virgin oil
of olive: its acidity cannot be superior to 2 gs every 100 g. The
organolectic level has to be equal or superior to 5,5.
ü
Olive oil: its acidity cannot
exceed 1,5 g every 100 gs.
ü
Oil of sansa
and olive: it is made of oil of refined sansa and different types of virgin
oils; its acidity cannot exceed 1,5
gs every 100 gs.
The
difference between the first two types of oil and the latter ones is that the
formers are produced without any chemical modification.
From the nourishing point of view, the olive oil is constituted above all
by trigliceridi, that represent the
 most
important group of the alimentary fats. The trigliceridi can be divided into
saturated and unsaturated; the former are
abundant in the animal fats (as the butter, the lard, etc.), the latter are
present in the vegetable fats, as the olive oil. The unsaturated fat acids are
important for the organism, since they reduce the level of cholesterol
and prevent different pathologies as the arteriosclerosis (caused by the
accumulation of cholesterol on the inside wall of the blood vases) that can
cause very serious illnesses as the heart attacks and the ictus. The oil of
olive has an extremely balanced composition of unsaturated fat acids: in
percentage the oleico acid represents 73%, the linoleico 9%, the linolenico him
0,3%. Besides this type of fat acids, in the olive oil there is also a certain
percentage of defined fat acids poliinsaturi, called "essential"
because our organism is not able to synthesize them, therefore they must
necessarily be introduced with the feeding. Oil is also constituted by vitamins
such as Á., E, K and D and many others that have got an antioxidant power, with
protective effects for the cells and the whole organism. For these reasons the
olive oil is considered one of the fundamental ingredients of the cooking of the
Salento and of the Mediterranean, therefore an essential food both for the taste
and the health.
|
