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Owned by the Duke D’Alessandro di Pescolanciano and brought to a total area of 1.235 acres, the Collemeluccio wood was the actual dowry of the noblewoman Desiderata Mellucci (the same of Palazzo Mellucci), who allegedly gave her name to this place. Desiderata bought the property in 1628 from the University of Pietrabbondante, and the D’Alessandro family owned it until 1895 when Banco di Napoli sold it to some local families.

Today, Collemelluccio Nature Reserve is a protected natural area in the province of Isernia. It falls entirely within the municipal area of Pescolanciano and covers an area of 858 acres.
It was established in 1971 and it is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, awarded the international qualification assigned by UNESCO for the conservation and protection of the environment (within the program on “Man and the Biosphere” – MAB).

80% of the forest is made of silver firs, with spontaneous formations such as the wreck of the ancient fir trees that in the centuries and millennia ago covered the Apennine ridge and which today also grow in Abruzzo, Tuscany and Calabria. Careful management, with well-planned human interventions, have, in fact, preserved this species all over the reserve.

The other dominant species is the Turkey oak (Quercus cerris), mainly found at the margins of the forest.
In cooler areas, beeches grow next to firs. There are also several hornbeams, field maples, field elms, wild service trees and ashes.
Hawthorn, holly, blackthorn and hazel grow in the lush undergrowth.

In the clearings and along the edge of the forest, there are many apple trees, wild pear trees, rowan trees, as well as rose hips and wild plums in the bushes.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)