Giardino di Grotta delle Capre

The Grotta delle Capre garden was created at the wish of Luigi Aguet, who donated some of his land to the Municipality on condition that it be used for public parks. It takes its name from the cave of the same name, reached along the path down to the sea. The park, with wooden tables in the shade of junipers and pines, is the ideal place to stop for a quick meal. Here the breeze from the nearby sea spreads the typical scents of the Mediterranean scrub. Among the many plants is the curry plant (Helichrysum italicum), a small shrub that grows in dry places such as cliffs or dunes, with a fragrance reminiscent of liquorice. Its leaves look whitish because of a fine down they lose when mature, a strategy to cope with a very sunny environment. The flower heads, gathered in dense clusters, are made of small yellow tubular flowers in a golden-yellow casing. It is this bright yellow that gave the plant its Greek-derived name, from “helios”, sun, and “chrysos”, gold. It is also called everlasting, because its flower heads stay on the plant for a long time even when “dry”. It is pollinated by bees and other insects, and its fruits are round achenes with a tuft of hairs. It has sudorific, astringent and anti-asthmatic properties.