Agricultural, domestic and handicraft folk uses of plants in the Tyrrhenian sector of Basilicata (Italy)

A) Agricultural uses

We found 18 wild species used in supporting agricultural activities: mostly as twine and "tutore", but also as shelter from winter frosts, as twines, as graftholders, or in 'sovescio' (green manure) activities.

We found many plant species used to fix cultivated plants to "tutori"; characteristic and relevant is the use of different species to support different parts of the plant, and in different seasons. For example, in the cultivation of the vine, in winter the branches that are supposed to product the fruit-bearing shoots are fixed to the "tutore" by using Salix alba subsp. vitellina (Fig. 3). The latter is planted along the edges of the whole vineyard and it is preferred for its long, thin and particularly flexible branches [7, 17]; these features are obtained with a yearly pollarding. In spring-summer, on the contrary, the budding vine shoots are tied with Ampelodesmos mauritanicus leaves, to prevent their being broken by the weight of the bunches. The practice of tying vine with Ampelodesmos [9, 11] is extremely old: the Greek name, in fact, literally means "twine for vine" (ampelos = vine, desmòs = twine). In the past, the plant was also gathered for sale in the neighbouring village, where it is less frequent. Other plants to cite are Holoschoenus australis and S. junceum, used above all as twine for vegetables [7, 9, 18]. The custom of using vegetal twines is disappearing, and with it we are losing the knowledge of the highly specific techniques of knotting.

One activity noted in Maratea in spring, is the use Pyrus amygdaliformis as a graft-holder for cultivated varieties of pear tree (in effect, it is the root of this pear tree that is used, since it is more robust and hardier). The practice is also recorded for Sicily [11] and Cilento (G. Salerno, unpublished data). All the uses cited are still practised in the territory; on the contrary, today the practice of using "green" manure (produced from a wide range of Leguminosae, e.g. Vicia sp. pl. and Lathyrus sylvestris) appears to be almost quite obsolete. The resumption of such a practice would be desirable as it could considerably limit the use of synthetic fertilizers. For example "tutore" are stakes, or longitudinally cut trunks, or even (unusual local use) stems not deprived of secondary ramifications to support creeping plants (e.g peas). The stems with leaves of Quercus ilex, Arundo donax and Spartium junceum are used to protect delicate cultivated plants from winter frosts (above all Citrus-trees), by creating a kind of folding screen around them.

B) Domestic and handicraft uses

In Maratea a remarkable number of plants (51) employed in local handicrafts or for domestic uses was recorded, in many cases involving the production of interesting and typical artefacts (Fig. 4, 5, 6).

A very high number of informants (36) were registered with regard to A. mauritanicus; a large proportion of the people of Maratea were involved in gathering its leaves [19]. Up until the 1960's, this plant had represented one of their main sources of income. Large faggots of the species were sold near the port, where the fibre was extracted from small bunches of leaves that were beaten with a small club ("mazzola"). This fibre was then twisted round itself, the other end being held firm under a foot, to obtain very long, thin ropes from which thicker ropes ("libàni") could be woven. These were then sold, for use either in mussel production or as ropes for vessels. Raw fibre was also used to stuff the small mattresses of the ships' crews. The use of Ampelodesmos, particularly as wattle, is cited by Zambardi and Iannacone [20]. Rispoli [21], describing the nearby Salerno province where the plant could be found, suggests also its industrial exploitation. Ampelodesmos leaves were also utilized e.g. to light fires and for making brooms and small brushes used for cleaning cinders from fireplaces; the small stem is called "jàccola", the name probably deriving from their being used to make torches (fiàccole) for travelling by night. A number of stems were tied together in small bunches to make the torch, a use also reported by Guarrera [9].

Another occupation that was once important but that has disappeared entirely today is charcoal production. Large amounts of firewood (up to 20³), were piled up to form cones about 2 m high and then covered first with Ampelodesmos or Sambucus ebulus leaves, and then with a layer of about 10 cm of earth, after which the fire was lit through an opening at the base. Combustion lasted for several days and one could be sure that the process was finished when, making holes at the bottom of the heap, greenish smoke no longer emerged. Brief mention of charcoal production is made by Lieutaghi [13] for Fagus sylvatica, Quercus ilex, Q. petraea and Q. robur; by Pirone [14] for the mentioned species and for Quercus cerris.

The production of lime was another occupation today extinct. Lime was obtained by bringing as much as 500 quintals of calcareous rocks of the area to a very high temperature in special, large fireplaces built in hollows on steep slopes. The fuel consisted of the different shrubby species of the maquis and the undergrowth, which were cut, tied in big faggots and dried before being used. "Baking" took three days, during which combustion had to be uninterrupted, a task which involved burning up to 1500 faggots!

Q. pubescens wood was instead once the object of a flourishing activity producing railway sleepers, as well as roof and ceiling beams. Embers and cinders are removed from the breadoven by means of a small, long handled broom ("mùnnulu"), made from fresh branches of Euphorbia characias, Laurus nobilis, Ruscus aculeatus or S. ebulus. Elsewhere the "mùnnulu" was made with these plants or with Ficus carica and Sorghum bicolor [9].

Several plant species are employed in occupations related to sheep-rearing and cheese making. Shepherds crooks are generally made from shrubby species that provide a particularly hard wood [10]: Prunus spinosa, Cornus mas and Crataegus monogyna. Typical collars ("puntagliere", "collane") for goat bells, of excellent craftsmanship (Fig. 4) are made from Acer neapolitanum, A. campestre and Juglans regia wood.

In the absence of rennet, obtained from the stomach of kids or calves, milk could be curdled also with small, freshly gathered pieces of leafy branches of F. carica [9, 22]; freshly-made cheeses are placed in special containers ("fuscelle","recuttari") woven, once again, from Holoschoenus australis and Carex distans stems.

The use of Origanum heracleoticum to dye wool red was previously unpublished (Lieutaghi [12] reports an analogous dye use for Origanum vulgare); the dye use of Fraxinus ornus cinder to obtain grey shades was commoner [23]. The husk of J. regia was still used to obtain brown-dark or black shades. Writing ink was prepared by squeezing the fruits of S. ebulus.

A most particular use was reported for a plant, which has now been a long-since naturalized species in Italy: Agave americana. The tough terminal prickle of the leaves and the tenacious fibres connected to it, removed together, were utilized as needle and thread for mending or sewing more or less unrefined fabrics. An analogous use is cited by Parada et al. [24]. "Spartu" (Spartium junceum) was, instead, also used for making clothes, in addition to flax. The fibre was extracted by beating and then washing small bunches of the previously boiled flexible stems (for fibre extraction see also Musacchio and Barone Lumaga [25]). This activity was carried out in the territory under study by a few families, while in other areas of southern Italy [26], and above all in Calabria, it appears to have flourished notably during the 1930s in the fascist period. During this era an autocratic economy producing food and clothes (e.g. with Spartium junceum fibers) without foreign imports existed in Italy. With the inflorescences of A. donax and Arundo pliniana particularly good brooms were made. Another type of small broom used after threshing to separate the grain of Triticum aestivum from the bran was made with Calamintha nepeta stems and leaves; this particular use is previously unpublished. A typical use in this area, but elsewhere less frequent [9] was that of flavouring home-made soaps with Salvia officinalis.

The use of Euphorbia dendroides latex once poured into streams to stun and, therefore to more easily catch fishes and eels is known also in other areas [15, 26–29]. In the past, during the kill of the pig, a tool named "gammieddu" was used, made with Phyllirea latifolia or Olea europaea wood. This tool was made selecting a branch of about a meter with a shape similar to that of a boomerang; its tips were sharpened and endowed with cuts for the tendons of the hind legs of the pig; in this way the body of the pig could be hoisted, making dissection more easy.