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Very near to Catania, in the town of Riposto, there’s “Parco delle Kentie” (“Howea Park”), a 2.2-acre botanical garden that includes an educational museum and a greenhouse.
Since the XIX century, many national and international scholars have been very keen on the flora and fauna of this territory: for instance, Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (a.k.a “Rafinesque”) was the American biologist and archaeologist of Franco-German origin, who catalogued a list of the most representative local plant species in 1813.

The area where the garden grows today hosted the nurseries of the “Allegra Garden” until the 1960s. Back then, it used to be a popular destination for schoolchildren and scholars – that’s why, at some point, a dedicated park was created.

THE GARDEN

The garden rests on alluvial soil, locally known as “chiancone”. The most striking feature of the garden is the collection of 100 specimens of Howea (Howea forsteriana) some 32.8-ft tall, planted in the early XX century. There are also many other palms belonging to the genus.

The museum includes a collection of fossils, a herbarium with samples of Etnean species and plants from Eastern Sicily, including a section dedicated to cryptogams – mostly algae and pteridophytes.

There are also some collections of species related to culinary and medicinal uses, and 50 spontaneous plants for food preparations, belonging to the families of Boraginaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Ranunculaceae, Leguminosae, Capparidaceae, Compositae, and Portulacaceae: among these, Silene vulgaris, Brassica fruticulosa, Asparagus acutifolius, Rumex scutatus, and Sonchus oleraceus.

Next to the building used as a museum, there is the greenhouse which protects palm trees that are less rustic than those growing outside, and coming from the tropical jungle.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)