Monti Ausoni

Monti Ausoni
Ausoni Mountains
Monti Ausoni is located in Italy
Monti Ausoni
Monti Ausoni
Naming
EtymologyAusoni people
Geography
CountryItaly
RegionLazio
ProvinceLatina
Range coordinates41°25′N 13°20′E / 41.417°N 13.333°E / 41.417; 13.333
Parent rangeApennine Mountains, Volsci Chain
Geology
OrogenySouthern Apenninic Orogeny
Age of rockMessinian of Miocene, Pliocene-Pleistocene
Type of rocklimestone karst

The Monti Ausoni or Ausoni Mountains constitute a mountain range in southern Lazio, in central Italy. It is part of the Antiappennini, a group running from the Apennines chain to the Tyrrhenian Sea. They are bounded to the north by the Monti Lepini and to the south by the Monti Aurunci. They take the name from the ancient tribe of the Ausoni. The Monti Ausoni consist mainly of friable limestone. Altitudes vary from hills to the 1,152 m of Cima del Nibbio and the 1,141 m of Monte Calvo. Near Pastena are the Grotte di Pastena (caves).

Part of the mountains is protected by a wilderness area, which was established in 1999. It covers 4,230 hectares. Most of the valleys are covered in forests (of oak, cork oak and maple). There are also species of Quercus virginiana, carpinella, aspen and laurel. Beneath the trees are numerous rare and endemic flora, such as Crocus imperati subsp. imperati, Narcissus Poeticus, Asphodeline lutea (asfodelina), Daphne oleoides (spatula daphne) and Iris relicta.[1]

  1. ^ "WILDERNESS AREA MONTI AUSONI" (in Italian). wilderness.it. Retrieved 25 November 2015.