L’origin, la natura, il buono e il bello delle piante. La botanica sassarese nel contesto delle ricerche floristiche in Sardegna, dal riformismo settecentesco alla fine del XIX secolo

THE ORIGINS, NATURE, GOOD AND BEAUTIFUL OF PLANTS». BOTANY IN SASSARI IN THE CONTEXT OF FLORISTIC STUDIES IN SARDINIA, FROM 18TH CENTURY REFORMISM TO THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY The paper aims to provide a picture of botanical studies in Sardinia and in particular at the University of Sassari between the 18th and late 19th century. Early scientific treatises on the natural history of Sardinia date back to 18th-century Savoyard reformism. Botanical studies developed at universities following Bogino’s reforms of 1764-65, as part of «materia medica» teaching. However, as early as 1748, the naturalist Michele Antonio Plazza was already conducting research in southern Sardinia, while the local scholar Gavino Pitalis worked in the north of the island. The great protagonist of Sardinian botanical studies in the first half of the 19th century was Giuseppe Giacinto Moris, author of the impressive «Flora Sardoa», published between 1837 and 1859. The following years saw the progressive development of a local botanical school, beginning with the work of Maurizio Reviglio who set up the University of Sassari’s first systemised herbarium.