engleski

New localities of alien plant species Senecio angulatus (Asteracea) in Croatia

Senecio angulatus L. f. is a perennial climbing plant species originating from South Africa, classified as a naturalized alien in the southern and western Europe. After its first reported in Croatia in 2005, about twenty new populations (mostly in Northern Dalmatia) have been found, either as garden plants or rarely as garden escapees, and reported within Flora Croatica Database. Here we report new localities along the Croatian coast recorded from 2019 to 2021. For the first time, the species has been found on the central Dalmatian islands of Hvar and Lastovo. Several populations were found in the city of Hvar – three cultivated in gardens and graveyard, and two garden escapees along the roads above the seashore (the latter two were the only populations recorded in bloom), and one garden escapee near the city of Jelsa. On the island of Lastovo (Middle Adriatic) only one cultivated and one escaped population were noticed in the Skrivena Luka Bay. In Northern Adriatic new planted and naturalised populations were found on the island of Lošinj (Veli and Mali Lošinj), and the island of Ilovik. In all localities, it was obvious that the plants have been eventually realised into the wild as an excess of plant material left after garden maintenance, which is a negative practice common in both rural and urban areas of Croatia. In addition, the species was noticed also in continental Croatia as ornamental plant planted in planters (jardinières) in Eastern Croatia Lipovac) and sold in pots on farmer’s market in the city of Karlovac. However, since the species has low frost resistance, its naturalization in continental Croatia is not anticipated. On the other side, in the coastal region and on islands, the species obviously circulates among gardeners and plant lovers, thus its further spread through garden waste/escape is highly plausible.

central Dalmatia ; climber ; garden escapee ; islands ; naturalised species

nije evidentirano