engleski

Cardamine occulta HORNEM. - A NEW ALIEN PLANT TAXON IN CROATIA

The Genus Cardamine L. (Brassicaceae) contains around 200 taxa distributed worldwide. Some taxa are invasive, e.g. Cardamine impatiens L. in the USA. In Europe, there are eight Cardamine taxa, which have an alien status outside their native European range. In the last decade of the 20th century a new plant taxon for Europe - C. occulta, was recorded in Spain and soon afterwards in many other European countries. Most of the observations were recorded for Switzerland and Italy. In Spain C. occulta is evaluated as a potential invasive species, and Marhold et al. (2016) suggest its invasive potential. The only areas without data about its presence are Scandinavia and South-Eastern Europe. Therefore, C. occulta has not been observed in the wild in Croatia or the neighbouring countries (Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro). In this work, we will present its findings in Croatia. The plant was discovered as s container weed in one plant nursery in the city of Zadar (Dalmatia), during the cultivation of pine seedlings. We assumed that seeds of C. occulta were imported within the soil substrate. Because of its potential invasive character and morphological similarity with two native taxa, C. hirsuta and C. flexuosa, the determination key for all three taxa, and photos of C. occulta were prepared. This will probably increase the chance of early detection of this species in the wild.

Brassicaceae, invasive flora, non-native flora, plant nursery

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