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Lake Burano is a brackish lagoon at the southern end of Maremma around Grosseto, in the municipality of Capalbio, separated from the Tyrrhenian Sea by a narrow band of dunes. Since 1980, Lake Burano has been a state nature reserve, while part of the lake and the surrounding areas form a stretch of the WWF Oasis of Lake Burano. The coastal dunes with Mediterranean scrub and the beach vegetation are the two main living environments, still pristine and untouched by human intervention.

FLORA

The beach is populated by the sea lily (Pancratium illyricum) with its showy white inflorescences, and by cotton weed (Othantus maritimus), while areas behind the dunes host both bushy plants such as cade juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus), Phoenician juniper (Juniperus phoenicea), myrtle (Myrtus communis), mock privet (Phillyrea latifolia), and mastic trees (Pistacia lentiscus); the arboreal presence features holm oaks (Quercus ilex) and cork oaks (Quercus suber). common reeds (Phragmites australis) and common water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) are particularly abundant in the lagoon.