New records of naturalised plants in Andalucía (Spain)
M. Joël Carié, president of the garden section of the Société Botanique Linéenne de Lyon, discovered 2 exotic species newly naturalised in Andalucía (Spain) during a botanical field trip:
- Senecio angulatus (Asteraceae): the plant is a vine originating from South Africa. It looks like and can be easily confused with Senecio mikanioides (Asteraceae), also considered invasive. The plant was discovered naturalised in Gilbratar, on a rock oriented towards Morocco. It is supposed to have escaped from gardens. Several plants of Senecio angulatus covered a wide surface, smothering the vegetation. This plant is recorded as invasive in the Comunidad Valenciana (Spain) (Olga Mayoral García-Berlanga & Miguel Angel Gómez-Serrano, pers. com.), in the Côte d’Azur (France) (Jean-Marc Tison, pers. com.) and in Sardegna (Italia) (Giuseppe Brundu, pers. com.). This new spot in Gilbratar could therefore represent a source of invasion that should be monitored.
- Lantana camara (Verbenaceae): is a tropical plant originating from South America and considered by the Global invasive database as one of the 100 worse invaders. A thicket was observed on the cliffs situated near Cap Trafalgar. This species is considered as invasive in Israel (Avinoam Danin, Jean-Marc Dufour-Dror, pers. com.), in Sardegna (Giuseppe Brundu, pers. com.), in Portugal (Decreto Lei 565/99) and in Islas Canarias (Martin Osoria, Victoria Eugenia & Wildpret, Wolfredo, pers. com.). It is also recorded in Sanz Elorza et al. (2004) as invasive on a few spots of the Mediterranean Spanish coast, and in Gibraltar.
These 2 new records are confirmed by the Flora of the Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society which included Ailanthus altissima (Simaroubaceae, EPPO List of invasive alien plants), Cynodon dactylon (Poaceae, EPPO List of invasive alien plants) and other plants considered invasive in the Mediterranean Basin such as Acacia saligna, A. cyclops and A. retinoides (Fabaceae), Oxalis pes-caprae (Oxalidaceae), Ricinus communis (Euphorbiaceae), Opuntia ficus-indica (Cactaceae), Gomphocarpus fruticosus (Asclepiadaceae), Nicotiana glauca (Solanaceae), Pennisetum villosum (Poaceae), …
This list highlights the presence of other plants which behaviour should be monitored:
- Paraserianthes lophanta (=Albizia lophanta, Mimosaceae): a tropical plant considered invasive in Portugal (see Espécies Vegetals Invasoras em Portugal) and casual in Spain (San Elorza et al., 2004).
- Chasmanthe floribunda (Iridaceae): this plant could sometimes be erroneously recorded as the invasive C. aethiopica (Jean-Marc Tison, pers. com.). C. aethiopica is considered invasive in Islas Canarias (San Elorza et al., 2004), Sardegna, (Giuseppe Brundu, pers. com.) and Malta (Darrin Stevens, pers. com.).
- Kalanchoe tubiflorum (Crassulaceae): according to the authors, this genus can be recorded as “Bryophyllum”. The plant reproduces very easily by bulblets but more information is needed on its behaviour in natural areas and its ability to overcrowd the habitats. It is recorded as casual in Spain by San Elorza et al. (2004).
- Pennisetum clandestinum (Poaceae): P. villosum and P. setaceum are well-known as invasive plants in Southern Europe. P. clandestinum is newly recorded by Greuter & Raus (2005) in Cyprus, Greece, Israel and Spain.
Sources
Personal communication from Joël Carié, botanist and active member of the Société Botanique Linéenne de Lyon. 2006-01.
Espécies Vegetals Invasoras em Portugal: http://www1.ci.uc.pt/invasoras/especies.htm
Flora of the Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society.
Global invasive database http://www.issg.org/database/welcome/
Greuter & Raus (2005) Med-Checklist Notulae 23. Willdenowia 35, 55-64, p. 63.
San Elorza M, Dana Sanchez E D, Sobrino Vesperinas E, eds. (2004) Plantas aloctonas invasoras en Espana. Direccion para la biodiversidad. Madrid, 384 pp.