New records of Galinsoga ciliata and Sida spinosa in Greece
Two invasive alien plants species have recently been reported from Greece.
Galinsoga ciliata (Asteraceae) is an annual plant originating from South and Central America. It is considered a weed in the United States and in Canada, it is also present in Africa and is very widespread in Europe (Austria, Portugal (Azores only), Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom).
This annual plant, reproducing by seeds, was discovered in October 2003 in cabbage crops in the area of Marathon, a vegetable producing area near Athens in Greece. The species is established in vegetable fields where it is abundant in summer and autumn, and has occasionally been found in glasshouses of vegetable and ornamental plants, as well as on uncultivated land. As G. ciliata resembles G. parviflora which is also found in Greece, it is likely that G. ciliata has been present in Greece for a longer period but remained unnoticed.
Sida spinosa (Malvaceae) is native to tropical countries of South America. It is an annual species, reproducing by seeds, which may infest any agricultural cultivated land, especially cotton and soybean fields, as well as pastures, meadows and uncultivated land. It is considered a weed in the USA, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay and Australia. In Europe, it has only been reported from Romania and Italy. It is regarded as an invasive weed mainly presenting a risk for the Mediterranean region.
In Greece, the species was first found in a cotton field in the valley of Louros river, near Preveza (South Western Greece) in September 2003 in a small acreage of cotton crop. The species was then found in summer 2004 in a cotton crop in the area of Palamas, near Kardista (Central Greece). Monitoring in these aeras indicated the continuing presence of the plant at low densities, with no evidence to suggest a rapid spread.
Sources
EPPO (2002) Draft datasheet on Sida spinosa. http://www.eppo.org/QUARANTINE/Pest_Risk_Analysis/PRAdocs_plants/draftds/02-9188
Kabuce N (2006) NOBANIS – Invasive Alien Species Fact Sheet – Galinsoga quadriradiata. – Online Database of the North European and Baltic Network on Invasive Alien Species – NOBANIS www.nobanis.org, Internet last access 2009-04-15.
Lymperopoulou S, Giannopolitis CN (2009) Galinsoga ciliata (Raf.) S.F. Blake and Sida spinosa L., two new weed records from Greece. Hellenic Plant Protection Journal 2, 37-40.