•a DE GRUYTER
open
HACQUETIA 13/2 • 2014, 355-357
DOI: 10.2478/hacq-2014-0011
short communication
MAniHOt ESCULENtA (EUPHORBIACEAE), A NEW ALIEN SPECIES IN ITALY
Adriano STINCA^'*, Giuseppe D'AURIA2 & Riccardo MOTTI1
Abstract
In the present work the presence of Manihot esculenta crantz is reported for the first time for Italy and Europe, a neophyte native to South America: ecology and invasive status are presented. Keywords: alien status, exotic species, invasiveness, vascular flora.
Izvleček
V članku poročamo o prvem pojavljanju vrste Manihot esculenta Grantz, neofita iz Južne Amerike, v Italiji in Evropi in predstavljamo njegovo ekologijo in invazivni status. Ključne besede: tujerodna vrsta, eksotična vrsta, invazivnost, cevnice.
1. INTRODUCTION
During floristic research in Campania region (Southern Italy, July 2013), one population referred the genus Manihot Mill. was found. The genus is not reported in the European floras (e.g. Tutin 1968, Ghrtek & Kf^sa 1982, Davis 1982, 1988, Lid 1987, Bened^ 1997, Polatschek 1999, Frederiksen et al. 2006, Stace 2010), and Italian floras and checklist (e.g. Fiori 1926, Zangheri 1979, Pignatti 1982, Conti et al. 2005, 2007, Ge-lesti-Grapow et al. 2009), but Iberite & Iamonico (in press) have recently discovered a naturalized population of Manihot grahamii Hook. in Lazio region (Central Italy).
In this paper Manihot esculenta Crantz. (vernacular name Cassava, Tapioca or Yuca) (Euphor-biaceae) is reported for the first time in Italy and Europe. Its invasive status and ecological notes are provided.
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
The identification of the species was made on the basis of the description by Standley (1937),
Standley & Steyermark (1949), Macbride (1951), and Rogers & Appan (1973). The protologue by Crantz (1766) was also examined. The collected specimen are kept in Herbarium Porticense (PO-RUN - acronym according to Thiers, 2011). Italian literature was examined to detect previous indications of the species in Italy and in Campania (e.g. Fiori 1926, Pignatti 1982, Conti et al. 2005, 2007, Celesti-Grapow et al. 2010, Stinca et al. 2012a, 2013). The status of naturalization was defined according to Richardson et al. (2000) and Pyšek et al. (2004).
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Manihot esculenta (lectotype designated by Rogers & Appan, 1973: fig. 4 and 5 in Merian, 1726) is a species native to the South America, probably from Peru and Brazil (e. g. Allem 1994, Olsen & Schaal 1999), it is extensively cultivated as annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root. In Europe it is rarely grown as ornamental plant (pers. obs.).
Manihot esculenta was collected in the Royal Park of Portici (Campania region, Southern It-
1	Dipartimento di Agraria, Universita di Napoli Federico II, via Universita 100, 80055-Portici (Naples), Italy
2	Servizio Fitosanitario Regionale, Regione Campania (SeSIRCA), via Don Bosco 9/E, 80141-Naples, Italy
' E-mail: adriano.stinca@unina.it
aly). The area is situated on the Bay of Naples on the southwestern foothills of Mt. Vesuvius, at 60 m a.s.l. (WGS84 coordinates: 33T 444717 E 4518087 N). climate is Mediterranean type that is characterized by an average annual temperature of 18.0 °c, average annual rainfall of 929.1 mm, and a summer period of drought which lasts from June to August (Stinca & Motti 2009).
Manihot esculenta was found in a natural wood of holm oak (that characterizes the Royal Park) and can be referred to Quercetalia ilicis Br.-Bl. ex Molinier 1934. Frequent taxa are: Quercus ilex L. subsp. ilex, Acanthus mollis L. subsp. mollis, Hedera helix L. subsp. helix, Fraxinus ornus L. subsp. or-nus, Parietariajudaica L., Rubus ulmifolius Schott, Sambucus nigra L., Celtis australis L. subsp. austra-lis, Arum italicum Mill. subsp. italicum, Ruscus ac-uleatus L., Euphorbia platyphyllos L. subsp. platy-phyllos, Piptatherum miliaceum (L.) coss. subsp. miliaceum, Silene latifolia Poir. subsp. alba (Mill.) Greuter & Burdet, Laurus nobilis L., Ballota nigra L. subsp. meridionalis (Beg.) Beg., Chelidonium majus L., Viola alba Besser subsp. dehnhardtii (Ten.) W. Becker, Aristolochia sempervirens L., and Calystegia silvatica (Kit.) Griseb. Furthermore, ruderal (Chenopodium album L. subsp. album, Mercurialis annua L., Artemisia vulgaris L. and Solanum nigrum L.) and alien taxa (Phytolacca americana L., Ehrharta erecta Lam., Erigeron sumatrensis Retz., Oxalis incarnata L., Salpichroa origanifolia (Lam.) Thell., Solanum chenopodioides Lam., Oxa-lis latifolia Kunth and seedlings of Phoenix canar-iensis Hort ex Chabaud) occur, highlighting the human impact on the area. Really, the Royal Park of Portici is placed within the urban continuum of the towns Portici and Ercolano (province of Naples), and its flora has a high percentage of exotic species (Stinca & Motti 2009, Motti & Stinca 2011, Stinca et al. 2012a, 2012b, 2013).
The Manihot esculenta population consists of 22 specimens with an average diameter of 1.7 cm, the largest 2.1 cm. One specimen of Manihot esculenta is grown in the Botanical Gardens far from the area about 300 m and surrounding by high walls. According to Richardson et al. (2000) and Pyšek et al. (2004), Manihot esculenta can be considered a casual alien plant in Italy, because it does not form self-replacing populations (pers. obs.). Therefore, its persistence relies on repeated introductions. However, because of the length of the reproductive cycle of this species further field investigations are necessary for the proper attribution of the invasive status.
Specimina visa
ITALY: Campania, Portici al Parco Reale (Napoli), WGS84 33T 444717 E 4518087 N, mar-gine lecceta, 60 m a.s.l., 14-07-2013, leg. A. Stinca, det. A. Stinca et R. Motti (PORUN).
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Received 4. 11. 2013 Revison received: 13. 2. 2014 Accepted: 20. 2. 2014