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| Mentha deleoi Raimondo, in Raimondo, 2026. |
Abstract
Mentha deleoi is described from Isola Grande, an islet in the Stagnone of Marsala (Trapani, NW Sicily), included within the homonymous Regional Oriented Nature Reserve. It is a perennial herb with an ephemeral annual cycle; in several morphological characters, it shows affinity with M. pulegium, a Eurimediterranean hemicryptophyte widely distributed in Sicily from coastal areas to high mountain habitats. Diagnostic and differential characters are provided, together with analyses of the biology, ecology, and chemistry of this new Sicilian endemic species. Owing to its extremely restricted distribution, small population size, and the potential impacts affecting the islet and its fragile habitat, resulting from centuries saliculture, a conservation plan is proposed, aimed at both in situ and ex situ protection.
Keywords: Mediterranean flora; taxonomy; endemism; Sicily; biodiversity conservation; economic valorization
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Mentha deleoi in flowering: (a–c) in the spring; (d,e) in the summer; (e,f) plants with white flowers. |
Mentha deleoi Raimondo sp. nov.
Diagnosis: Species herbacea perennis, ciclo effimero, omnibus organis aeriis dense villosa. Differt a Mentha pulegium L. foliis ovatis ad oblongis, plerumque convolutis; scapis floriferis erectis vel decumbentibus-ascendentibus, in plantis maiore magnitudine longioribus; verticillasteribus numerosis, densis, contiguis et globosis; floribus plerumque lilacinis, rarius albis.
Etymology: The name of the new species commemorates Prof. Antonino De Leo (1905–1971), chemist and phytologist, and Professor of Systematic Botany at the University of Palermo. On 3 July 1971—just days after graduating in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Palermo—Prof. De Leo appointed the author as Curator of the Botanical Garden, introducing him to environmental and applied botany, which he pursued continuously for over fifty years. He was among the first researchers in Italy to initiate applied studies on the biology and chemistry of tropical and subtropical plants introduced and cultivated at the Botanical Garden, fields that he directed from 1968 until his untimely death in November 1971.
Francesco Maria Raimondo. 2026. Mentha deleoi (Lamiaceae): A New Species from Sicily. Plants. 15(4); 563. DOI: doi.org/10.3390/plants15040563 [11 February 2026]
