Nature
Acqua Santa Croce springs from the Cotardo hill, the name indicating a high location, covered with chestnut groves that provide for the "roscetta" (little red one), an exquisite chestnut well-known in the Abruzzi as "the queen of the valley". A lush vegetation is pampered by the great abundance of water that springs from many sources. Up to 500-600 meters grow different sorts of oaks, coloured with touches of yellow gorse. The mountainside on the left of the river Liri is covered with oaks going up to the top of Mount Orbetta, while the chestnut trees, that offer copious harvesting in autumn, are on the other side. At a height of 900 meters appears the turkey oak, its presence announcing that we are going higher towards the mountains where the beech is the unquestioned king. The whole of the mountain is evenly covered with beeches, up to around 1650 meters, with the exception of the area of Mount Viperella, the highest peak of the municipality of Canistro (1836m.), while you can find black poplars, willows, bramble bushes and hawthorns along the river Liri. The undergrowth of the woods is crowded, in season, with mushrooms and wild strawberries. An extremely rich heritage is formed by many and varied species of flowering plants such as the martagon lily ( Lilium Martagon), the gentian (Gentiana Verna, used for the preparation of a special yellowish liquor), cowslip, daffodils and many other species.