Monte Lera Nature Reserve

Site overview

The nature reserve was established in 1982 and is administered by the Management Body of the Protected Areas of the Royal Parks; it includes within it the chapel dedicated to the Madonna della Neve, built in 1855-1856, which stands at an altitude of 1,211 meters on the ridge that divides the Ceronda Valley from the Givoletto basin. The reserve extends over an area of approximately 50 hectares around an altitude of 1,200 meters and was created to protect one of the very few known stations of a rare plant endemism, Euphorbia gibelliana Peola. The stretch of ridge protected by the reserve appears rather wide and rounded; the rocky substrate, composed of ultrabasic rocks, is colonized by a sparse wood in which downy oaks, limes, birches, and hazelnuts predominate. Euphorbia gibelliana, classified in 1892 by the botanist Paolo Peola as a species in its own right, is today considered as a possible subspecies of Euphorbia hiberna, which is moreover quite similar to the subspecies Euphorbia hiberna subsp. The reserve does not only protect the station of E. gibelliana but also features interesting fauna and flora, including purple moor-grass clearings that allow the plant to grow. The presence of the lime tree in the wild is quite rare in Piedmont, and various protected herbaceous species are present.