This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)

Arborea Archeology is an association created by Livio Dalla Ragione, an anthropologist who died at the beginning of this century, and by his daughter Isabella, an agronomist. The association has always been focused on the protection of ancient fruit varieties (no longer cultivated): some of them have been saved from apparently inevitable extinction.
The association headquarters is in San Lorenzo di Lerchi, near Città di Castello, north-west of Perugia – in the Upper Tiber River Valley.

The collection of ancient fruit varieties helps retaining farming and cultural resources while preserving a valuable portion of the Italian historical, cultural and landscape heritage.
In the 17-acre orchard, about 400 specimens of different species have been collected in about thirty years of research, including apples, pears, cherries, plums, figs, almonds, medlars, and quince – some 150 different varieties were found during such thorough and long research. In particular:

– apple tree varieties (Malus domestica): “ciucca” or “muso di bue”, “San Giovanni”, “fiorentina”, “panaia”, “roggia”, “rosa in pietra”;

– pear tree varieties (Pyrus spp.): “briaca” o “cocomerina”, “monteleone” o “papera”, “fiorentina”, “marzola”, “somentina”, “vernia” o “tonda roggia”, “volpina”;

– fig tree varieties (Ficus carica): “asinaccio”, “permaloso”, “melanzana”, “verdino”, “verdone”;

– plum tree varieties (Prunus domestica): “San Pietro”, “regina claudia verde”, “scosciamonaca”;

– cherry tree varieties (Prunus avium): “corniola”, “bella d’arezzo”, “bianca”.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)