New alien vascular species for the flora of southern Italy

Abstract

In the present work new or confirmed alien not-cultivated vascular plants are reported for the flora of the southern Italy regions: Acalypha virginica, Alcea biennis subsp. biennis, Bidens subalternans, Cardamine occulta, Casuarina equisetifolia, Cedrus atlantica, Cedrus deodara, Chamaeiris orientalis, Cotula coronopifolia, Elodea canadensis, Eragrostis mexicana subsp. virescens, Euphorbia nutans, Fagopyrum esculentum, Ficus microcarpa, Hesperocyparis arizonica, Hesperocyparis glabra, Kalanchoë × houghtonii, Lantana camara subsp. aculeata, Lemna minuta, Ligustrum sinense, Lobelia erinus, Lonicera japonica, Oenothera lindheimeri, Panicum capillare, Persicaria capitata, Phyla nodiflora, Schinus molle, Sedum palmeri, Sesbania punicea, Solanum elaeagnifolium, Solanum sisymbriifolium and Veronica peregrina. Furthermore, Lantana montevidensis is new for the Italian alien flora, Asparagus asparagoides and Tradescantia pallida are reported for the first time in continental Italy, whereas Cucurbita moschata, Nandina domestica and Taxodium distichum are new for the Italian peninsula. Moreover, field surveys in Campania allow us to update at regional level the naturalization status of Euphorbia nutans (naturalized) and Ligustrum sinense (casual). The new data confirm that new non-native species are continuously introduced into the flora of southern Italy and it is noteworthy that several species, widely used in the reforestation since the middle of the last century, have undergone naturalization in recent years.

Keywords:

• Alien status
• Basilicata
• Calabria
• Campania
• exotic species
• herbarium
• invasiveness
• Puglia

Acknowledgements

We are particularly grateful to G. Galasso, E. Banfi and P.M. Peterson for the helpful discussions, M. Bellelli for reporting of Solanum elaeagnifolium and M. Marignani for the linguistic review of this manuscript.