In the late 90s, early 2000s, I had the good fortune to meet the then curator of the Ethnographic Museum of Giazza: Giovanni Molinari.
It was a trivial problem of applied computer science that led me to him, thanks to the help of a friend. These were years of 'ferment' in the Cimbrian Museum, and Molinari's desire to accelerate the activity of the Curatorium, which was already ponderous, convinced me to accept collaborating with this institution. You know how these things go, I mean collaborations: one leads to another. So we came to the idea of creating a website all 'our own', on the Cimbri, along the lines of one that already existed and was developed by German students from Frankfurt. The partnership continued for a few years and our attendance became increasingly intense, even for interests other than those that had brought us together.
Shortly before leaving Italy to try to realize those dreams that so fascinated him, in overseas lands, he proposed that I write a book on the flowers of Lessinia.
This idea struck me, also because of the fact that he, although knowing my cultural background as a 'forester', did not even remotely suspect the great passion I felt for nature, specifically for botany; but at the same time a slight sense of anguish pressed my chest: how to tackle such a job, alone. I knew the obstacles that this enterprise would soon manifest. And this frightened me. An unexpected help always came from him, when he introduced me to two young people, newly graduated, naturalists, who would willingly share my enthusiasm, but also my concerns. We immediately got to work. Later, when contacting the client, we realized that he did not intend to publish a treatise on applied botany, but a small book without pretensions, containing the main flowering species present in our Lessinia territory. Better than nothing, I thought because, in any case, it would certainly be more within our reach.
It is useless to say, at this point, that the project foundered, for many reasons that it is not the case to delve into here. But, in the meantime, the 'machine' had not only started up, but was traveling quickly, even if the destination, the point of arrival, had now been lost sight of. Never mind, I said to myself. The important thing is the journey. And so I continued on my way. The idea of a publication had foundered, but that of sharing my passion, my exhausting research, with others, no.
The experience gained with Giovanni Molinari at the Museum allowed me to develop an internet site, mine, created by me and managed by me. I called it 'Fiori della Lessinia' (Flowers of Lessinia). Oh my, I can't say I'm a web wizard, but a website, as I had conceived it, I had somehow managed to create. And I was happy about it, in fact enthusiastic. The idea of transferring all the material to a laptop, thanks to which I could go to the determination of plants in the field, without having to bring them home or without loading myself with very heavy volumes on my shoulders, up and down the valleys, really stimulated me.
And here we are today. The good thing about websites is that they are constantly evolving: don't like the graphics? no problem, change them; not convinced by a solution? don't worry, try another one. With books no. Verba volant, scripta manent, in every sense. Every work contains something unfinished, imperfect, unsatisfactory within itself. And while a literary work, but also a scientific one, 'petrifies' like a shot, revealing the intentions of the author at a given historical moment (which can also show some interesting aspects), the work published on the Internet does not follow this logic. It doesn't matter if there are inaccuracies, shortcomings, errors: you can correct, add, delete. All in real time. If the book 'ages', starting from the day of its publication, the site remains constantly young, enriches itself, grows. In short, it doesn't make you pay the price of the frustration that often strikes those who create printed 'works'.
Whoever visits the site will immediately realize that it is very lacking. It is a site in the making, built, updated, modified over and over again and still needing a lot of work. I didn't pay much attention to the graphics, to being more or less 'friendly'. I realize that the visitor must be facilitated as much as possible in moving between web pages, but I preferred to dedicate my time more to the content than to the form. The taxa (species and subspecies), theoretically present in the entire province, are over 2000 (at least according to the work I conceived), belonging to almost 600 genera, included in 138 families. Why do I say 'theoretically'? Because the identified taxa are included in the extensive existing bibliography, where the various authors have recorded them as present, in different eras, but still to be confirmed or excluded, either due to erroneous determinations, or due to extinction. But there could also be missing species that are actually present, still unnoticed because they have recently been introduced, a very common thing nowadays, due to the intense movement of means and men who, more or less consciously, can transport seeds and propagules from one place to another.
To date, I have identified, determined (also thanks to the help of friends) and photographed about 1831 taxa. How much road still to go! (and not only in a metaphorical sense). But who's in a hurry? It will never be finished anyway, because nothing in nature is definitive. Naturalistic subjects never tire, if only for the fact that they are inexhaustible: around every corner a surprise; on every excursion a renewed enthusiasm for possible new discoveries. If I take a look at the collected material, I count about 1800 excursions carried out in the last 22 years, up to today. I did not record the excursions starting from 1992, as they were occasional and not planned. I have covered a mountain of kilometers: from the most agile places to the most inaccessible ones, up and down throughout Lessinia, discovering places never suspected, enchanting, permeated with that poetry that we find in Berto Barbarani, or in the paintings of Angero Dall'Oca Bianca and in many Veronese authors, but sometimes also subjected to such neglect and exploitation as to be stunned at how they allow their own and others' territory to be abused, without respect, without a minimum of cultural coherence, often in the name of 'profit' and 'progress', in the vain attempt to grasp a mirage, which by definition is unattainable, moreover moving in the opposite direction, consistently with today's bad habits, insensitivity and ignorance. Despite this, I continue to go to Lessinia attracted by its natural beauty also because, I don't hide it, I really feel at ease only beyond 1300 meters above sea level; and not only for the goodness of the air!
The site leads through the identification of the present taxa using a 'Search by species', but also by 'Families', passing through a 'Synoptic' table for an overall view. All accompanied by images and fact sheets which are accessed by clicking either on the icons (to open and enlarge the images, also of medium quality, to facilitate the opening of the images even with not very fast lines) or on the "fact sheet" that identifies and accompanies each inserted taxon. There is also a brief Glossary for understanding the technical terms, which we find abundantly present in the 'Dichotomous Keys' section, that is, those keys that allow at least the family of belonging of the specimens found in the countryside to be determined. Finally, a brief discussion on Systematics, that is, the classification of plants, albeit in broad terms, just to understand where the plants we know are 'located' in the immense 'building' that is Systematic Botany. Last but not least, the cartography of Lessinia, to be consulted only online. And to finish the email, for contacts.