Acacia mearnsii De Wild.

Raab-Straube, Eckhard von & Raus, Thomas, 2022, Euro + Med-Checklist Notulae, 15, Willdenowia 52 (2), pp. 273-299 : 281-284

Acacia mearnsii De Wild.

N Tn: Tunisia: Jendouba, Tabarka, Sidi Badr and surroundings, 36°56'14''N, 08°49'04''E, 110 m, cork oak forests, 4 Mar 2012, El Mokni (Herb. Univ. Monastir); Ain Draham-Tebeynia, 36°46'55''N, 08°49'09''E, 590 m, mixed oak forests, 21 Mar 2013; ibid., 21 Mar 2019, El Mokni (Herb. Univ. Monastir); ibid., 23 Mar 2022, El Mokni (Herb. Univ. Monastir). – Acacia mearnsii is a fast-growing, unarmed, evergreen tree up to 20 m tall, native to Australia. The plant has been introduced to North and South America, Africa, Asia, the Pacific region and Europe (see, e.g., Franco 1971; Tutin & al. 1968; Paiva 1999; Adair & al. 2000; GISD 2022a). In the Mediterranean region and according to Euro+Med (2006+), the taxon is reported in Europe as an alien only in Italy, Corsica and the Iberian Peninsula. In N Africa, the taxon is recorded as “introduced” in Morocco (Euro+Med 2006+) and “naturalized and invasive” in Algeria ( Boudiaf & al. 2014). The African Plant Database ( APD 2022) reports Acacia retinodes Schltdl.

N Tn: Tunisia: Kairouan, Ain Echrichira, within and on both sides of Oued Echrichira, 35°38'04.18''N, 09°49'11.44''E, 255 m, 27 Apr 2019, El Mokni & Domina (Herb. Univ. Monastir, PAL); Monastir, Monastir toward Sousse, 35°46'47''N, 10°48'05''E, 20 m, 11 Apr 2022, El Mokni (Herb. Univ. Monastir). – Acacia retinodes , a small tree native to Australia, is cultivated as an ornamental in warmer parts of the world. It is known to have naturalized in California, where it has spread from its initial plantings ( GISD 2022b). In the Mediterranean area and according to Euro+Med (2006+), the taxon is reported as introduced mainly in the Iberian Peninsula, France, Great Lathyrus sphaericus Retz. (≡ Orobus sphaericus (Retz.) Philippe ) – Fig. 5.

A Uk: Ukraine: Odesa region, Bilhorod-Dnistrovs’kyi district, near Popazdra village, slope to Budatskyi estuary (N Black Sea coast), 45.9863°N, 30.3124°E, 22 May 2021, Shyriaieva & Vynokurov (KW photo: https:// www.inaturalist.org/observations/79794314). – Lathyrus sphaericus is a submediterranean annual species, distributed mainly across S Europe, N Africa and Anatolia ( Ball 1968; Euro+Med 2006+; GBIF 2021c). In Ukraine, it is considered native to the S coast of the Crimean Peninsula, namely the Crimean submediterranean area ( Krytska 1987). In 2021, we discovered a population of this species also in the continental part of Ukraine on the Black Sea coast SW of the city of Odesa. Lathyrus sphaericus occurred there on loess slopes in ruderalized dry steppe (in phytosociological terms a stand transitory between the classes of Festuco-Brometea and Artemisietea vulgaris ). Since the population consisted of a small number of individuals (about a dozen plants) and no other occurrences have been recorded yet in the region, we suggest that this species be classified as a casual alien in continental Ukraine.

D. Shyriaieva & D. Vynokurov