First record of Maireana brevifolia in Islas Canarias (ES)
In Gran Canaria, Maireana brevifolia (Chenopodiaceae) was recorded for the first time in in Islas Canarias (Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria) in July 2005 in the area of Maspalomas and has since then established in various locations in the South and the East of the island. It is mainly found in anthropogenic habitats such as roadsides, fallowlands and abandoned agricultural areas. It is also found in natural protected areas such as the nature reserve of the dunes of Maspalomas, the Arinaga mountain or the Aguimes mountain. The species is regulated as an invasive alien plant in Spain. This succulent shrub growing up to 1.5 m high is thought to have been introduced in Islas Canarias as an ornamental plant in parks and gardens (e.g. hotel gardens), or as an experimental revegetation species for arid lands.
M. brevifolia (Chenopodiaceae) is native to the South and West of Australia. It has been voluntarily introduced as a forage plant in Chile, Israel and Pakistan. It has also been introduced for its capacity to withstand drought and salinity or to grow on hypersaline soils (e.g. South Africa, Zimbabwe, etc).
Sources
Carlos Suárez Rodríguez blog, Dirreción General de Ordenación Territorial, Consejería de medio Ambiente y Política Territorial. http://casuaro.blogspot.fr/2010/02/el-mato-azul-maireana-brevifolia-rbr-pg.html
Ministerio de agricultura, alimentación y medio ambiente, Boletín Official de Estado, Lunes 12 de diciembre de 2011, Núm. 29, Sec. I., 25 pp. http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2011/12/12/pdfs/BOE-A-2011-19398.pdf