ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hortic.
Sec. Floriculture and Landscapes
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fhort.2025.1652517
This article is part of the Research TopicEditors' Showcase: Floriculture and LandscapesView all 4 articles
The use of Mediterranean native shrubs for improving the sustainability of urban environments
Provisionally accepted
- 1Universita degli Studi di Catania, Catania, Italy
- 2Universita degli Studi di Messina, Messina, Italy
- 3Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The Mediterranean Basin is home to one of the highest levels of biodiversity on Earth, with approximately 25,000 plant species. The typical vegetation in this region is predominantly consists of shrubs. Due to their anatomical, morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics, these plants can tolerate abiotic stress, particularly drought. Consequently, incorporating them could enhance the sustainability of urban green spaces. However, species native to the Mediterranean Basin are not yet widely represented in green spaces, despite their attractive ornamental traits. To quantify the contribution of Mediterranean native shrubs, a survey was conducted on Italian flora. Using a selection grid, species of potential interest were identified; these species belong to the Mediterranean chorotype and exhibit appealing ornamental characteristics. The overall attributes of these plant species support their ornamental use, owing to their form and the features of their leaves, flowers, or fruits. The investigation identified 369 species that are not currently available in commercial nurseries. The most represented families included Rosaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, and Cistaceae. Although the flowering period of each species is relatively short, the blooms of different species are distributed throughout the year. Therefore, by simultaneously utilizing various species, it is possible to ensure a continuous ornamental display.
Keywords: Biodiversity, ornamentals, Native plants, sustainable landscape, new crops, conservation gardening
Received: 23 Jun 2025; Accepted: 08 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Leotta, Toscano, Ferrante and Romano. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Antonio Ferrante, antonio.ferrante@unimi.it
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.