Amaranthus muricatus ( Gillies ex Moq.) Hieron.

Raus, Thomas, 2022, Taxonomic, nomenclatural and floristic review of Amaranthaceae of Greece and neighbouring countries, Willdenowia 52 (3), pp. 335-357 : 345

15. Amaranthus muricatus ( Gillies ex Moq.) Hieron. in Bol. Acad. Nac. Ci. 4: 421. 1882 ≡ Euxolus muricatus Gillies ex Moq. in Candolle, Prodr. 13(2): 276. 1849. – Lectotype (designated by Iamonico 2016a: 529): South America, Argentina, Mendoza, Gillies (K K000195064 , lower plant on sheet).

Remarks — Amaranthus muricatus is a perennial with a stout rootstock native to Bolivia, N Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay ( Pedersen 1999: 24); it is an invasive species in Africa, S Europe and Australia and to a lesser degree in North America and Asia ( Mosyakin & Robertson 2003: 431; Bayón 2015: 341, 2020: 58), doing well in arid climates. It is naturalized in Greece ( Arianoutsou & al. 2010), preferring secondary, stony habitats such as crevices of walls, and has been established on Syros (C Kyklades) since 1968. On the Greek mainland it was first recorded in 1999 from urban areas of Thessaloniki ( Krigas & al. 1999) and is rapidly spreading there ( Krigas & Kokkini 2004). The first record from the East Aegean Islands (Kalymnos) was in 2008 ( Zervou & al. 2009) and from Attiki near Athens in 2016 ( Polymenakos & Tan 2016). The species has not been reported so far from countries N of the Greek border, but it is known as an established alien in the W Mediterranean basin from Italy W to Morocco ( Iamonico 2015a).