Ceremony in the historic garden of via Costantinopoli. The initiative in collaboration with Premio GreenCare and the support of Euphorbia Società Benefit
On the occasion of National Tree Day 2023, this morning the Academy of Fine Arts of Napoli in collaboration with Associazione Premio GreenCare and the support of Euphorbia Società Benefit, it has planted a specimen of Ceiba speciosa in the historic garden of via Costantinopoli. Present, with a representation of the students enrolled in the drawing courses - who will produce works with the real portrait of the planting - the director of the Academy Giuseppe Gaeta, the president of GreenCare, Benedetta de Falco, and Salvatore Terrano of Euphorbia.
Already present in Naples in the Botanical Gardens of Naples and Portici, in the gardens of Piazza Cavour, but also in Villa Comunale and the Real Bosco di Capodimonte and in the flowerbeds near the Liceo Umberto a Chiaia, the plant was sought throughout Italy and found in Sicily in the Faro nursery, in the province of Catania. Similarly to the mandarin, the Cycas and the Japanese medlar, the Ceiba (formerly Chorisia) is a perfect example of diffusion in cultivation that occurred through the Botanical Gardens of Palermo. Introduced around 1896 from Brazil, it spread, thanks to the speed with which it grows, very quickly throughout Sicily and Southern Italy. In 1910 the botanist Michele Lojacono Pojero provided a biological and ecological description of it, realizing that it would soon become a tree essence with great decorative effect for parks and gardens.
It is a tree with many attractions: a large shady crown with high branching; compound, digitate leaves; large waxy flowers, with a long style protruding from five light or bright pink petals, streaked with yellow and speckled with brown, somewhat reminiscent of the hibiscus flower but also the passion flower; large, ovoid, capsuled fruits that open seeds wrapped in thick cotton-like down; a trunk swollen at the base, covered with conical spines. In Mayan cosmology, it is the tree of life that connects earth and sky, and is widespread in tropical areas from Latin America to Southeast Asia.
According to the director ABANA, Gaeta, "intervening on the Garden is an extraordinary opportunity to return to common use a space of great historical tradition. Investing in this place means giving a contribution to the beauty of the entire city. Among other things, these are highly topical projects that proceed hand in hand with the growth of the Academy and with the diffusion of a civic culture of respect for the environment".
For GreenCare president, de Falco, "the tree fits perfectly into a context already enhanced by other exotic trees. The different geographical origin of the existing greenery needed to be emphasized and we are happy to have done so with this magnificent Ceiba specimen on National Tree Day. Once again we give the signal of how a garden is a living space and which we will continue to take care of".
The Academy's green cloister was restored in the fall of 2022 with funds from GreenCare Patrons Laura Trisorio and Gianfranco D'Amato, curated by Euphorbia, under the high supervision of the Superintendency for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Municipality of Naples, and features an important plant garden with some specimens of ficus and camphor trees, listed in the Register of Monumental Trees of Italy.
The garden, restored to its former glory, was delivered to the students and the city last spring. And today the new plant insertion continues the care path donated, until spring 2024, by GreenCare with Euphorbia, a company specialized in the maintenance of historic greenery.
Luciano Carotenuto
Article published on November 21, 2023 - 17:47
Video Chronicles
