Botanical relics of a lost landscape: herborising ‘upon the Cliffs about the Pharos’ in Genoa, March 1664

This paper uses approaches derived from historical ecology to show how knowledge can be gained about the historical and cultural value of neglected urban landscapes. We study the area around Genoa’s lighthouse and consider the long-term survival of individual plant species and some implications for...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bruzzone, Rafaella, Watkins, Charles, Balzaretti, Ross, Montanari, Carlo
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40627/
_version_ 1848796102253346816
author Bruzzone, Rafaella
Watkins, Charles
Balzaretti, Ross
Montanari, Carlo
author_facet Bruzzone, Rafaella
Watkins, Charles
Balzaretti, Ross
Montanari, Carlo
author_sort Bruzzone, Rafaella
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper uses approaches derived from historical ecology to show how knowledge can be gained about the historical and cultural value of neglected urban landscapes. We study the area around Genoa’s lighthouse and consider the long-term survival of individual plant species and some implications for landscape conservation. We examine topographical representations over the last 500 years to establish the landscape context of the lighthouse. We then analyse the records of plants collected by two English naturalists of the seventeenth century, John Ray and Francis Willughby, and demonstrate how the plants were identified and documented. We survey the current vegetation to establish whether any species identified in 1664 still grow at the site. This exploration of botanical ancestry at a local scale makes it possible to demonstrate cultural–historical values of the lighthouse rocks and their vegetation which should be considered as part of the cultural heritage of the city of Genoa.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:42:38Z
format Article
id nottingham-40627
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:42:38Z
publishDate 2018
publisher Taylor & Francis
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-406272020-05-04T19:52:55Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40627/ Botanical relics of a lost landscape: herborising ‘upon the Cliffs about the Pharos’ in Genoa, March 1664 Bruzzone, Rafaella Watkins, Charles Balzaretti, Ross Montanari, Carlo This paper uses approaches derived from historical ecology to show how knowledge can be gained about the historical and cultural value of neglected urban landscapes. We study the area around Genoa’s lighthouse and consider the long-term survival of individual plant species and some implications for landscape conservation. We examine topographical representations over the last 500 years to establish the landscape context of the lighthouse. We then analyse the records of plants collected by two English naturalists of the seventeenth century, John Ray and Francis Willughby, and demonstrate how the plants were identified and documented. We survey the current vegetation to establish whether any species identified in 1664 still grow at the site. This exploration of botanical ancestry at a local scale makes it possible to demonstrate cultural–historical values of the lighthouse rocks and their vegetation which should be considered as part of the cultural heritage of the city of Genoa. Taylor & Francis 2018-01 Article PeerReviewed Bruzzone, Rafaella, Watkins, Charles, Balzaretti, Ross and Montanari, Carlo (2018) Botanical relics of a lost landscape: herborising ‘upon the Cliffs about the Pharos’ in Genoa, March 1664. Landscape Research, 43 (1). pp. 20-36. ISSN 1469-9710 Urban biodiversity John Ray Francis Willughby Genoa landscape change http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01426397.2016.1274966 doi:10.1080/01426397.2016.1274966 doi:10.1080/01426397.2016.1274966
spellingShingle Urban biodiversity
John Ray
Francis Willughby
Genoa
landscape change
Bruzzone, Rafaella
Watkins, Charles
Balzaretti, Ross
Montanari, Carlo
Botanical relics of a lost landscape: herborising ‘upon the Cliffs about the Pharos’ in Genoa, March 1664
title Botanical relics of a lost landscape: herborising ‘upon the Cliffs about the Pharos’ in Genoa, March 1664
title_full Botanical relics of a lost landscape: herborising ‘upon the Cliffs about the Pharos’ in Genoa, March 1664
title_fullStr Botanical relics of a lost landscape: herborising ‘upon the Cliffs about the Pharos’ in Genoa, March 1664
title_full_unstemmed Botanical relics of a lost landscape: herborising ‘upon the Cliffs about the Pharos’ in Genoa, March 1664
title_short Botanical relics of a lost landscape: herborising ‘upon the Cliffs about the Pharos’ in Genoa, March 1664
title_sort botanical relics of a lost landscape: herborising ‘upon the cliffs about the pharos’ in genoa, march 1664
topic Urban biodiversity
John Ray
Francis Willughby
Genoa
landscape change
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40627/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40627/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40627/