Gagea sicula

The plant grows in open woodland, woodland margins, and in meadows, and would be destroyed by the closure of the herbaceous layer by Urtica, Rubus or other species, which could occur as a result of changes in land management or nitrification from agriculture or, especially, from atmospheric pollution as Palermo is geographically close to the known extant locality.

The cause and timing of the loss of the population in Calabria is not known.

This species is classed as Vulnerable in Sicily (Raimondo et al. 2011), while in Calabria it is described as extremely rare, certainly extinct on Monte S. Angelo at Castrovillari, and not recently found on Montalto Uffugo where it was last recorded in 2002 (Bernardo et al. 2011). However, the latter record may refer to a misidentification (L. Peruzzi pers. comm. 2015). It occurs in two Natura 2000 sites in Sicily ITA020008 (Rocca Busambra e Rocche di Rao) and ITA020048 (Monti Sicani, Rocca Busambra e Bosco della Ficuzza). There is a need to document known and potential populations, and to establish monitoring of population and habitat trends.