Botanists have divided the surface of Etna into seven regions. The first extends from the level of the sea to 100 feet above it, and in it flourishes the palm, banana, Indian fig or prickly pear, sugar-cane, mimosa, and acacia. It must be remembered, however, that it is only on the east side of the mountain that the level within the base sinks to 100 feet above the sea; and, moreover, that the palm, banana, and sugar-cane, are comparative rarities in this part of Sicily. Prickly pears and vines are the most abundant products of the lower slopes of the eastern side of Etna. The second, or hilly region, reaches from 100 to 2000 feet above the sea, and therefore constitutes, with the preceding, the Regione Coltivata of our former division. In it are found cotton, maize, orange, lemon, shaddock, and the ordinary Sicilian produce. The culture of the vine ceases near its upward limit. The third, or woody region, reaches from 2000 to 4000 feet, and the principal trees within it are the cork, oak, maple, and chestnut. The fourth region extends from 4000 to 6000 feet, and contains the beech, Scotch fir, birch, dock, plaintain, and sandworth. The fifth, or sub-Alpine region, extending from 6000 to 7000 feet, contains the barberry, soapwort, toad-flax, and juniper. In the sixth region, 7,500 to 9000 feet, are found soapwort, sorrel, and groundsel; while the last narrow zone, 9000 to 9,200 feet, contains a few lichens, the commonest of which is the Stereocaulon Paschale. The flora of Etna comprises 477 species, only 40 of which are found between 7000 feet and the summit, while in the last 2000 feet only five phanerogamous species are found, viz., Anthemis Etnensis, Senecio Etnensis, Robertsia taraxacoides, (which are peculiar to Etna), Tanacetum vulgare, and Astragulus Siculus. Common ferns, such as the pteris aquilina, are found in abundance beneath the trees in the Regione Selvosa.
This division has been advocated by Presl in his Flora Sicula.[16] He names the different regions beginning from below: Regio Subtropica, Regio Collina, Regio Sylvatica inferior, Regio fagi Sylvestris. These four are common to all Sicily. The three remaining regions, Regio Subalpina, Regio Alpina, and Regio Lichenum, together extending from 6000 to 9,200 feet, belong to Etna alone.
At the conclusion of the first volume of Recupero's Storia Naturale et Generale dell' Etna we find a somewhat different botanical division proposed by Signor Rafinesque-Schmaltz.[17] He makes his divisions in the following manner:—
- Florula Piedemontana.
- Florula Nemorosa.
- Florula excelsa o della Regione Discoperta.
- Florula Arenosa o della Regione delle Scorie.
In the latter region, (to which he assigns no limit as to height), he found Potentilla Argentea, Rumex Scutatus, Tanacetum Vulgare, Anthemis Montana, Jacobæa Chrysanthemifolia, Seriola Uniflora, and Phalaris Alpina.
As regards the animal life on Etna, of course it is the same as that of the eastern sea-board of Sicily, except in the higher regions, where it becomes more sparse. The only living creatures in the upper regions are ants, a little lower down Spallanzani found a few partridges, jays, thrushes, ravens, and kites.
Brydone says of the three regions: "Besides the corn, the wine, the oil, the silk, the spice, and delicious fruits of its lower region; the beautiful forests, the flocks, the game, the tar, the cork, the honey of its second; the snow and ice of its third; it affords from its caverns a variety of minerals and other productions—cinnabar, mercury, sulphur, alum, nitre, and vitriol; so that this wonderful mountain at the same time produces every necessary, and every luxury of life."
FOOTNOTES:
[15] I am indebted for these figures to Mr. George Dennis, H.M. Consul General for Sicily.
[16] "Flora sicula: exhibens Plantas vasculosas in Sicilia aut sponte crescentes aut frequentissime cultas, secundum systema naturale digestas." Auctore G. B. Presl. Pragæ, 1824.