Study of a pre-Linnaean Herbarium Attributed to Francesco Cupani (1657–1710)

Pulvirenti S., M. M. Indriolo, P. Pavone & R. M. S. Costa (2015). Study of a pre-Linnaean Herbarium attributed to Francesco Cupani (1657–1710). Candollea 70: 67–99. In English, English abstract. The aim of this work is the study of one of the two pre-Linnaean herbaria belonging to the University of Catania, attributed to Francesco Cupani, a 17th century Sicilian botanist, specifically the volume with the inventory number “VII f2 Hortus Botanicus Catinensis”. The two collections were previously unknown and found in 1992 as a result of reorganising the Herbarium of Catania University. The volume examined comprises 164 pages with 1–12 specimens on each sheet. Most likely, some samples come from the Misilmeri Garden of the Prince of Cattolica, to which Cupani dedicated great commitment in its creation, while others may have been acquired from exchanges with contemporary scientists; this is testified by the presence of non-Sicilian or extra-European species and by the extensive correspondence between the Sicilian friar and many contemporary botanists. The material in the herbarium comprises phanerogams (610 angiosperms and 5 gymnosperms), along with a small number of cryptogams (14 pteridophytes, 9 algae and 1 lichen), and 4 marine animals are also present. Unfortunately, some samples are partially or entirely damaged or even missing; nonetheless it has been possible to identify most of them. The Cupani's herbarium is compared with some pre-Linnaean herbaria in order to highlight their main similarities and differences.