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...mountain, man, and the sea...
Flora
The most significant vegetation of the Gennargentu varies gradually as one gains height. On the lower slopes and in the valleys one finds small stretches of holm oak forest which encircled the entire mountain and was cut down to a great extent in the last century. Further up, one comes across bay oaks and maples. In Autumn their red leaves add a characteristic blaze of colour to the mountain landscape. One can still find small clusters of junipers, clumps of holly and some isolated yews. Last but non least, the summits: they are the reign of perennials, of weather worn shrubs (wind bent plum trees, dwarf junipers, Corsican junipers), precious endemisms (santolina insularis, aquilegia nugorensis) and some exclusive species such as one kind of thistle (lamypropis microcephala) which can be found only in minute colonies. The principal vegetation of the Supramonte is the forest of holm oaks. In some places (Sas Badas, Su Lidone) the forest has never been cut. These areas are authentic natural sanctuaries, with ancient columnar trees of gnarled trunks, often scarred by lightning. Some have fallen and lie rotting on the ground, destroyed by fungi as others grow around them. In these forests it is still possible to observe a complete natural cycle without any of the alteration brought about by human intervention. Mentio must also go to the spontaneous flowers which with their belligerent parade of colours enliven even the most desolate mountain ranges. Precedence goes to the peony, whose beautiful and delicate blooming announces the arrival of Spring. In Summer the blossoming oleanders offer an extraordinary spectacle as they tinge with pink the winding courses of the "codule" (dried out riverbeds).
The "Lamyropsis microcephala" thistle is a species exclusive to the Gennargentu
Peonies in bloom, (the rose of the mountain, "rosa 'e monte", as they are called in Sardinian)
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