Railway Flora or Nature’s Revenge on Man. Botanical Observations on the Area Around the International Marshaling Yard of Chiasso, 1969–1978 is a small botanical manual—halfway between a travel diary and a scientific book—that recounts the incredible phenomenon of spontaneous plants growing near the Chiasso international station, where the construction of a huge new railway line in the 1950s and 1960s had wiped out the vegetation. First published in 1980, this book became a small cult object and inspired the poet Fabio Pusterla, who wrote a poem for Schick’s “pilot plants,” included in this edition. Railway Flora bears witness to the passionate research of an extraordinary man and his attention to the complex relationship between humankind and its environment. Biodiversity is explained along the tracks of a border station.

CO-PUBLISHER: Florette

WITH THE SUPPORT OF

Cantonal Museum of Natural History (Lugano), Canton of Ticino (Federal Aid for the Preservation and Promotion of the Italian Language and Culture), Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council, Migros Ticino Cultural Percentage, Lugano al Verde, Chiasso Banking Group, Radix Italian Switzerland, Municipality of Chiasso, Alpi Suisse SA (Bedano), Gridecont SAGL (Chiasso), ChiassoLetteraria