Introduction

The Madonie Park, covering 40 000 hectares, is one of the most interesting and floristically differentiated areas in the Mediterranean basin. Its territory shows a very high degree of diversity as instanced by about 1600 taxa of the vascular flora with a high percentage of endemic species. The forest vegetation, in the Mediterranean to subatlantic belt, is varied and mainly characterised by evergreen oak (both Quercus ilex and Q. suber) and deciduous woods with Quercus pubescens, Q. virgiliana, Castanea sativa, Q. petraea and Fagus sylvatica. Exotic trees are widespread in all the Madonie mountains, including Pinus halepensis, P. pinea, P. nigra, Cedrus atlantica, C. deodara, Cupressus sempervirens, C. arizonica, C. macrocarpa, Abies alba, A. cephalonica, Robinia pseudoacacia and Eucalyptus camaldulensis. The landscape is also composed of rocky environments, grasslands and wetland sites. All these environments are also very rich in cryptogams (lower plants) but knowledge about them is still inadequate.

As regards fungi, it is noteworthy that since the second half of the seventeenth century the local population has exploited the understorey products as a source of food or for income. In the last decade mushroom picking, previously limited to relatively few people, has become a widespread pastime with potentially adverse consequences to mycelium growth and fruit body appearance. This threat, together with the lack of knowledge of Sicilian fungi, causes serious problems for any attempt to safeguard the integrity of the ecosystem. In addition, the concern for fungi by local authorities and the scientific community is still very slight.