Contribution to the flora of Asian and European countries: new national and regional vascular plant records, 7

Abstract The paper presents new records for 29 vascular plant species from 12 Eurasian countries. Seven taxa (Agave sisalana, Austrocylindropuntia subulata, Lagurus ovatus subsp. nanus, Opuntia stricta, Orobanche serbica, Oxalis articulata, Vitis × instabilis) are reported from Albania, one (Allium carinatum) from the Europaean part of Russia, six (Dipsacus fullonum, Gagea shmakoviana, Mentha × dalmatica, Thymus indigirkensis, Thymus sergievskajae, Viola × sukaczewii) from the Asian part of Russia, two (Agrostis sozanensis, Poa mustangensis) from China, two (Carex muskingumensis, Sedum rubens) from Poland, two (Crataegus macrocarpa, Dactylorhiza lapponica) from Romania, two (Oxygraphis delavayi, Ranunculus eryuanensis) from Nepal, two (Erigeron bonariensis, Ophioglossum vulgatum) from Tajikistan, one (Ranunculus olgae) from Kazakhstan, one (Najas guadelupensis) from Hungary, one (Orobanche bartlingii) from Armenia, one (Crataegus petrodavisii) from Azerbaijan and one (Amaranthus powellii) from Georgia. For each species, synonyms, general distribution, habitat preferences, taxonomy with remarks on recognition, and differentiation the species from the most similar taxa occurring in a given country, as well as a list of recorded localities (often far from the previously known areas) are presented.


Introduction
During field explorations across the vast area of 10 European and Asian countries, as well as during taxonomic revisions on herbarium materials of different groups of vascular plants, the authors found some species that are new to the floras of particular countries or their significant regions (provinces or republics).
The paper is the continuation of previous works (Nobis et al. , 2016(Nobis et al. , 2017, which similarly to the works of Sukhorukov et al. (2016Sukhorukov et al. ( , 2017, are dedicated to new national and regional vascular plant records, to broaden our knowledge on their distribution and taxonomy. The aim of this paper is to report new records for 29 vascular plant species: 16 from Asian and 13 from European countries.

Distribution and habitat
Crataegus petrodavisii has been described from Hakkari (Turkey) by Browicz (1972a) (under the name of Crataegus davisii Browicz) and its occurrence in Turkey has been confirmed by further field works by the first author. The species has also been reported from Iran by Khatamsaz 1992 (as Crataegus davisii), and has been collected by the first author from various locations around the country.
The specimens of Crataegus petrodavisii were collected from Baku (Azerbaijan) during a field trip in 2015. They were identified using the relevant literature and floras (Browicz 1972b;Christensen 1992;Dönmez 2014;Pojarkova 1939) as a new record for Azerbaijan flora. The population of the species is composed of a few individuals that are similar to the populations present in Turkey and Iran. Both herbarium studies and field works have shown that this species is not commonly present in Azerbaijan. We propose that Crataegus petrodavisii should be put in the EN category of Azerbaijan flora.

Taxonomic notes
Crataegus petrodavisii is a new name of Crataegus davisii recently established by Dönmez (2014) due to homonymy with a name previously published from N. America (Christensen 1992).

Distribution and habitat
Dipsacus fullonum is a species with natural distribution in Europe, the Mediterranean and Asia Minor (Bobrov 1978), where it grows in the river valleys, in the bushes and in weedy places. As a decorative, honey-bearing, industrial plant, as well as a feed for birds and a seed pollutant of other cultures, it was introduced to North and South America, South Africa, China, Australia and New Zealand (Encyclopedia of Life 2007; The Plant List 2013), where it was naturalized, forming a secondary distribution area. In North America, Dipsacus fullonum is currently considered an invasive species (National Invasive Species Information Center 2005).
In the European part of Russia it is found on the banks of reservoirs, on vacant lots and as a weed in holiday villages, sometimes in large numbers; it is able to survive for a few years on some habitats, even in the meadow communities (Mayorov 2014;Mayorov et al. 2012). When studying the species in the culture of the Moscow Botanical Garden since 1965, its winter hardiness has been identified, as well as its very high resistance to diseases and pests (Demidov 2011). These properties contribute to the successful naturalization of the species in new territories. This is a new alien species for Asian Russia.

Taxonomic notes
The genus Dipsacus comprises about 15 species, distributed in temperate and tropical Eurasia, the Mediterranean and tropical Africa. The members of this genus are biennial, rarely perennial plants with spiny-bristly stems and sharp bracts. In the past, the fruit of the related species Dipsacus sativus (L.) Honck., often regarded as D. fullonum subsp. sativus (L.) Thell. or even as a synonym of D. fullonum, were used for napping wool. While, the difference between these species is quite significant: the point of the bracts of D. sativus is rigid, elastic and downward facing, while D. fullonum has straight and flexible points (Mayorov 2014).
It grows on dry meadows, among shrubs and the margins of dry forests, on fine-grained soils in foothills and in the lower belt of mountains. This is a rare native species to the flora of Southern Siberia.

Taxonomic notes
According to protologue (Levichev 2001), shmakoviana is close to Asiatic Gagea fedtschenkoana Pascher and south-Siberian Gagea longiscapa Grossh. ex Serg. It differs from the former in its longer peduncles and rather soft basal leaves, from the latter in its brown sheaths of main bulbs and fine warty surface of substitutive bulbs. Unlike the other species, this one forms two substitutive bulbs on the opposite sides at base of the generative shoot. Moreover, Gagea shmakoviana slightly differs from both abovementioned species in the green color of the stem and leaves, whereas two others are characterized by the well-defined bluish hue of their shoots.
Interestingly, in 2000, Levichev labeled as Gagea shmakoviana several herbarium samples stored in the Herbarium of Komarov Botanical Institute (LE) previously under names Gagea fedtschenkoana and Gagea longiscapa, but did not mention them in the protologue.
Erigeron bonariensis is a thermophilous species, occurring on dry and sunny places mostly in ruderal habitats such as roadsides, pavements, fences or railway tracks (Negrean and Ciortan 2012;Verloove 2017).
According to Kochkareva and Zhogoleva (1988), and Nobis et al. (2017) in the Flora of Tajikistan there are 26 species of Erigeron. After revision of the material preserved at KRA, we report E. bonariensis as new to the flora of Tajikistan.

Distribution and habitat
Gagea shmakoviana was described from West Altai (Levichev 2001) and for years was known only from its locus classicus: "Rossia, Provincia Altai, districtus Tscharyschensis, in viciniis pagi Sentelek". This species has been mentioned (Levichev 1999) as endemic to Altay with the possibility of its presence in Chinese Altay. In the most recent publications (German 2016;Sherin and Shmakov 2011), the species is treated as endemic to West Altay. It has been also specified for several parts of Altay-Sayan floristic province (Ebel 2012) but no concrete locations have been given.

Taxonomic notes
The two species differ mainly in the shape of the sterile laminas, which are narrow wedges in Ophioglossum bucharicum and egg-like wide wedges in Ophioglossum vulgatum (Vvedenskii and Puchkova 1968). The fertile spike with two rows of sporangia starts from the basal section in Ophioglossum bucharicum O.Fedtsch. & B.Fedtsch. or from the middle part of the vegetative leaf in Ophioglossum vulgatum (Fomin 1934

Distribution and habitat
Orobanche bartlingii is a Eurasian species, occurring from Spain, through Central and Eastern Europe and Russia to Siberia (Carlón et al. 2009;Kreutz 1995). From the Caucasus is listed only Orobanche alsatica Kirschl. sensu lato (Gagnidze 2005;Novopokrovskij and Tzvelev 1958;Takhtajan 1987), except in Georgia, where a locality of Orobanche bartlingii has been recently found (Piwowarczyk in Nobis et al. 2017). A new locality of Orobanche bartlingii has been found in the rocky grassland in Armenia. The species is a new, native taxon to the flora of this country. The population of the species is comprised of 15 shoots.
It grows in seminatural and human-made habitats, usually in or near abandoned gardens, near cottages, on roadsides in villages and in wastelands. Due to long rhizomes it easily propagates vegetatively, sometimes forming large thickets. This is a new alien nothospecies for Asian Russia.

Taxonomic notes
The genus Mentha L. comprises 27 species and 15 interspecific hybrids (The Plant List 2013). In mint species, dioeciousness is widespread, promoting interspecific hybridization. Mentha × dalmatica is treated as a sterile hybrid between Eurasian species Mentha arvensis L. and Mentha longifolia (L.) L. (Hegi 1975). Morphologically, Mentha × dalmatica resembles pubescent forms of M. arvensis. Also, this hybrid can be confused with the pubescent form of another hybrid, Mentha × gracilis Sole (Mentha arvensis × Mentha spicata L.). The latter is also known from Siberia (Ebel 2007;Ebel, Sheremetova, and Buko 2009), but it differs from Mentha × dalmatica by being glabrous at the base of the calyx, and with less prominent calyx veins as well as quite a different scent of both alive and dried plants. Due to polymorphism of parental species, Mentha × dalmatica is a rather variable nothospecies consisting in several morphologically distinguishable clones, some of which were described as intraspecific taxa (Hegi 1975;Hylander 1965

Distribution and habitat
The adder's tongue is a widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere (Dostál 1984). The plant grows in wet pastures and meadows, within grassy swards, mainly in Agropyro-Rumicion and Molinion alliances (Dostál 1984). Sporadically it was also spotted in humid Carpinion communities or river-side forests from the Alnion alliance. Ophioglossum vulgatum is known mainly from lowlands, but also from colline, montane and subalpine belts up to 1400 m a.s.l. (Dostál 1984).
To date, the species has not been included in the flora of Tajikistan. During revision of herbarium materials and field research in the Darvaz region, we found specimens of that taxon. proliferated (viviparous) spikelets, prevailing in all panicles. This characteristic is quite rare for section Stenopoa (Tzvelev 1976), and only three species have such spikelets. Besides Poa mustangensis, there are Poa arnoldii Melderis, which is distributed in Pan-Himalaya and some provinces of China Rajbhandari 1991;Zhu et al. 2006), and arctic species Poa pekulneensis Jurtz. & Tzvel., distributed only in some points of Russian Beringia and in Alaska (Soreng 2007). Poa mustangensis was described from the Mustang district of C. Nepal (Rajbhandari 1988). In the summer of 2015, the Institute of Botany, CAS, organized the II Sychuan expedition to study the flora of the Pan-Himalayas. The fieldwork in the alpine belt of Sichuan province enabled us to observe a viviparius bluegrasses population, which was morphologically similar to Poa mustangensis. Field studies of alpine bluegrasses and observations in nature allowed for a new interpretation of available data. We found that the panicles within these populations were narrow and consistent at all stages of development. For this reason, we recognize Poa mustangensis as a distinct species and attribute the found viviparous populations to this species.

Taxonomic notes
Poa mustangensis belongs to the very difficult and problematic section of Stenopoa. In the Flora of China (Zhu et al. 2006), this species has been synonymized with another viviparous species, Poa arnoldii Melederis. According to the protolog, these two species differ from each other mainly on the basis of the shape of panicle, which vary greatly during the growing period even within the same plant, and the surface of culm and leaves, which is quite variable as well. Nevertheless, field work in summer of 2015 allowed us to observe some populations of the viviparous bluegrasses, which were morphologically similar to Poa mustangensis. We noticed that the panicle shape in these plants was narrow and consistent at all stages of development. Besides having a narrow panicle, all these plants were as robust and rigid as Poa glauca Vahl, whereas types of Poa arnoldii and all observed samples were more gentle, almost smooth, and even resembled other sections.

Distribution and habitat
The small genus Oxygraphis has a wide distribution in the mountains of Himalaya, Tibet, Pamir and Altay (Malyshev and Peshkova 1993;Sharma, Balakrishnan, and Rao 1993;Tiwari 2016). Three Oxygraphis species were reported for Nepal (Press, Srestha, and Sutton 2000), including Oxygraphis nepalensis Tamura, a local endemic of Nepal identified from a single location (Tamura 1978). Oxygraphis delavayi was described from Yunnan province (China) and later found in north-west Sichuan and south-east Xizang (Wang and Gilbert 2001).
Recently, it was reported from Arunachal Pradesh, India (Tiwari 2016) and was not found from the territory of Nepal (Press, Srestha, and Sutton 2000;Yonekura 2008).

Taxonomic notes
The systematics of Oxygraphis is still not elaborated. Its species differ in the morphology of their scapes, leaves and petals (Rai and Rawat 2015;Wang and Gilbert 2001).
In Oxygraphis delavayi, the scapes are apically puberulent, the leaf blades are reniform with crenate margins, and the petals are yellow and usually deciduous.

Distribution and habitat
Poa mustangensis is a Himalayan species, distributed in Nepal and Sikkim (Koba 2008), and Bhutan (Noltie 2000), where it grows at the alpine belt on screes and stony places. There are dwarfish rigid plants with narrow panicle and ascending short branches. The main characteristic that attracts attention is the presence of

Taxonomic notes
In the flora of Kazakhstan, the genus Ranunculus L., including the genus Batrachium (DC.) Gray, is represented by 65 species (Gamajunova 1961). Ranunculus olgae morphologically belongs to paraphyletic Sect. Ranunculastrum DC. This section consists of c. 70 species from the Irano-Turanian region, Mediterranean Basin, eastern Europe, northern Africa, and Macaronesia, and is characterized by beaks mostly equalling or longer than the achene body, often long or short triangles, entirely glabrous receptacles, partly tuberous roots, and mostly elongated collective fruit (Hörandl and Emadzade 2012). The section is divided into two groups (Hörandl and Emadzade 2012). The first group is characterized by strongly bilaterally compressed, papery, winged along sutures, not strongly fused with the receptacle achenes (e.g. Ranunculus platyspermus Fisch. and Ranunculus pedatus Waldst. & Kit.). The second group is characterized by thicker, not papery, narrowly marginate along sutures, strongly fused with the receptacle achenes (e.g. Ranunculus oxyspermus Willd. and Ranunculus orientalis L.). Ranunculus olgae morphologically belongs to the first group.
Unlike Ranunculus mindshelkensis B.Fedtsch., Ranunculus olgae has hairy achenes. This species also exhibits a heart-shaped base of the leaf blade, pubescent stems and curved upper part of the beak of the achene, as opposed to Ranunculus czimganicus Ovcz. which has a wedge-shaped leaf base and beak that is curved from its base (Ovczinnikov 1937). Species with leaves rounded, entire or three-lobed are morphologically close to Ranunculus olgae. Ranunculus chaffanjonii Danguy ex Finet & Gagnep. was described from Chaffanjon, which is near Tashkent, and this location is the locus classicus for Ranunculus olgae. If considered conspecific, the Ranunculus olgae name, published in 1882, has priority over R. chaffanjonii, published in 1904. Ranunculus afghanicus Aitch. & Hemsl. was described later than R. olgae, and therefore this last name is of higher priority (Fedtshenko 1925).

Distribution and habitat
Thymus indigirkensis was described from the north-eastern part of Eastern Siberia: Yakut ASSR, Ojmiakon district, right bank of the Nera river (tributary of the Indigirka river), near the village Balaganach, steppe plot Contributors -Alexander P. Sukhorukov, Andrey Erst

Distribution and habitat
Ranunculus eryuanensis was described from the Yunnan and Guizhou provinces of China (Wang 1995), and later found in south-west Sichuan (Wang and Gilbert 2001). This species has not been previously reported from Nepal (Press, Srestha, and Sutton 2000;Yonekura 2008). This native species prefers grassy hill slopes or forest margins at altitudes from 2300 to 3000 m a.s.l.

Taxonomic notes
Twenty-five Ranunculus species have been reported from the territory of Nepal (Press, Srestha, and Sutton 2000). Recently, two additional species, Ranunculus longicaulis C.A.Mey. and Ranunculus pseudohirculus Schrenk, were added to the flora of Nepal (Erst and Sukhorukov 2011). Ranunculus eryuanensis was previously known as Ranunculus kunmingensis var. hispidus (Wang 1995) and was later raised to the species rank (Erst 2015). It differs from Ranunculus kunmingensis var. kunmingensis in its spreading hispid stems and leaf dissection. Based on its morphological characteristics, it belongs to the type section of the genus. This group consists of ~30 species distributed in Eurasia, North America and Africa, with a basic chromosome number of x = 7 (Goepfert 1974;Hörandl and Emadzade 2012;Xu et al. 2003).

Distribution and habitat
Ranunculus olgae was originally described from the Samarqand and Tashkent regions of Uzbekistan (Regel and Schmalhausen 1882). Now, this species has been recorded from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan (Fedtshenko 1925), Tajikistan (Byalt and Bubyreva 2014) and Kyrgyzstan (Lazkov and Sultanova 2011). No confirmed record of Ranunculus olgae has been reported from Kazakhstan so far (Gamajunova 1961). The species grows in steppe to alpine zones, including steppe communities, meadows, near snow in the high mountains and along rivers and streams. Ranunculus olgae is a new native species to the flora of Kazakhstan. left tributary of Lena river (MW; Karavaev 1971Karavaev , 1974Doronkin 1997); it is known to be endemic to that area.
Recently, the species was found of the northern part of Middle Siberia (in the South-Eastern Taymyr), almost 800 km away from the Eastern Siberian populations.

Distribution and habitat
Viola × sukaczewii up to now was known only by type specimens collected in the beginning of the twentieth century on the territory of former Samara Province. The type specimen is labelled: "Samarskaya gub., Buzulukskiĭ uezd, listvennȳĭ les severnoĭ chasti Mogutovskogo lesnichestva. 13 V 1903. V.N. Sukaczev" (LE!). Now this place is located in the westernmost part of Orenburg Oblast. Nevertheless, this nothospecies was not mentioned in the generalizing regional floristic publication (Ryabinina and Knyazev 2009).
As well as both parent species, the hybrid grows in both deciduous and coniferous forests and on their margins, sometimes on forest meadows. This is a new native nothospecies for Asian Russia.

Taxonomic notes
This nothospecies was described as an interspecific hybrid between Eurasian species Viola mirabilis L. and Viola nemoralis Kuetz. (Nikitin 2001). Like other Viola hybrids, this taxon is characterized by significant elongation of stems by the end of summer.
In the protologue (Nikitin 2001) only flourishing samples were mentioned, but no thoughts on the fertility of this hybrid were expressed. On the other hand, as Nikitin had placed parent species to two different sections (Trigonocarpaea Godr. and Mirabiles (Nyman ex Borbás) Vl.V. Nikitin, accordingly), and in the introduction part of the abovementioned paper (Nikitin 2001) he stated that intersectional Viola hybrids are usually highly on south slope of the main bank (Karavaev 1971). It grows on gravelly-rocky and sandy slopes in the tundra zone of Eastern Siberia in the western part of the Magadan region and in the north-western part of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic: the basin of the Indigirka river to N68° and near the village of Sangar (MW; Karavaev 1971Karavaev , 1974Doronkin 1997); the species is known as endemic to that area.
Recently, specimens of that taxon were found in the northern part of Middle Siberia (Taymyr), almost 1500 km away from the known Eastern Siberian populations. Thymus indigirkensis, along with Thymus tonsilis Klokov, differ notably from other species of series Praeserpylla in their strongly pronounced heterophylla. Characteristics of Thymus indigirkensis distinguishing it from close species include the following: leaves on the surface of both sides are more or less pubescent with long and short hairs, 4-9 mm long and 1.5-4 mm wide; generative shoots are 2-7 cm tall, under inflorescence and on the upper internodes densely pubescent with horizontally protruding long hairs, lower -with short hairs; calyx at time of flowering is 3.5-4 mm long, the teeth of the upper lip on the edge are long ciliated.

Distribution and habitat
Thymus sergievskajae was described from the northern part of Eastern Siberia: Yakutia, Zhigansky district, the left bank of the Lena river, the right bank of the river Chorenka at the confluence of the rivers Conor-Sete, sand bars near the river-bed (Karavaev 1971). It grows on sandy and rocky slopes river in the north-eastern part of the Central Siberian upland in the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic: the mouth of the river Chorongcho -the

Distribution and habitat
Pskov Oblast is the westernmost region of the Russian mainland influenced by the Atlantic air masses and exhibiting some influence of Middle European flora (Sennikov 2005). Allium carinatum, a new species for Russia, was collected here as an established alien in 2002 on anthropogenic meadow along the Moscow-Riga railway in the town of Sebezh (ca. 15 km to the east of the Latvian border). The section of this railway within the Sebezhsky District harbours some well-known sites of floristic interest in the Northwestern Russia, which were initially discovered by Dr Galina Konechnaya in 1999. Dozens of thermophilous alien plants of southern origin were recorded here in 1999-2004, mainly -but not exclusively -in steppe-like communities dominated by Festuca pseudovina Wiesb. (Konechnaya 1999(Konechnaya , 2004Konechnaya and Tzvelev 2004). Allium carinatum was collected in Sebezh during one of these research missions, but was not properly named.
Allium carinatum is a widely distributed European species known from Austria, Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and nearly all former Yugoslavian countries (Stearn 1980). It was also reported upon a single gathering from Northern Anatolia by Kollmann (1984).
The species was not recorded from Eastern Europe by Omelczuk-Myakushko (1979), although lately it has been dubiously reported from Estonia (Stearn 1980) and Ukraine (Mosyakin and Fedoronchuk 1999). The former record was not confirmed afterwards, whereas the latter is not supported by any specimens from the main Ukrainian and Russian herbaria (Seregin 2007). Therefore, the record from Sebezh is a novelty for Eastern Europe.
At the moment, Sebezh is the easternmost locality of A. carinatum, but the current state of the local population is unknown.

Taxonomic notes
Allium carinatum is a typical member of the section Codonoprasum Reichenb. It has showy drooping flowers with stamens twice as long as the ovoid perianth. Tepals are rose to purple, rarely white, usually tinged with whitish wax. Usually, Allium carinatum subsp. carinatum can be confused with Allium oleraceum L., which has stamens hidden in the campanulate perianth. sterile, it is logical that the discussed nothospecies should be sterile too. To check this assumption, we observed and thoroughly explored a large population (not less than 100 individuals) found in Tomsk city during whole vegetation season in 2015 -from the beginning of May until September. We found that chasmogamous flowers emerging in spring are fully sterile (like those of Viola mirabilis), but some cleistogamous flowers formed in summer produce completely ripe seeds.

Distribution and habitat
Agave sisalana is native to Mexico. It was spread as a fiber plant and is now naturalized in North and South America, North and Central Africa, Europe, East Asia and East Australia (Hochstätter 2015;Nobel 1988). In the Mediterranean, it is reported as naturalized in Spain, peninsular Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, Morocco, Algeria and Libya (African Plant Database 2017; DAISIE 2017; Euro+Med Plantbase 2017). This species occurs on disturbed habitats such as abandoned fields, roadsides and waste areas. It produces a large number of bulbils on the flowering stem (pseudovivipary) (Elmqvist and Cox 1996), so it easily spread to the surroundings of the areas where it was introduced. In the most recent floras of Albania (Pils 2016;Vangjeli 2015;Vangjeli et al. 2000), only Agave americana L. is reported.
Agave sisalana was observed in a strip between the sea and the Butrint lagoon on carbonate rocky soil, of about 0.3 ha, with hundreds of mature and juvenile individuals among Mediterranean native and exotic plants. For Albania, this species is to be considered as a naturalized, invasive, species.

Taxonomic notes
Agave sisalana can be distinguished from Agave americana by its shorter and narrower leaves (90-130 × 9-12 cm instead than 100-200 × 15-25 cm) and by its shorter corollas (55-65 instead than 70-100 mm) (Hochstätter 2015). The colour of the leaves and the spines on their margins vary depending on the clonal lines.

Distribution and habitat
Carex muskingumensis is a species native to North America; it occurs in eastern Canada (Ontario), north-central USA (Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Wisconsin), north-eastern USA (Indiana, Michigan, Ohio) and south-eastern USA (Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee) (Mastrogiuseppe et al. 2002). It has been introduced to Europe where it occurs in Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, (Koopman 2015a), Austria (Wallnöfer and Essl 2016) and Poland. In North America, the sedge grows on moist to wet soils on deciduous forest-overgrown flood plains, in lowland woods and in thickets. In Europe, it is encountered in both man-made and natural habitats, frequently along rivers and streams (e.g., Gregor et al. 2012;Otto, Gebauer, and Hardtke 2015;Řepka and Grulich 2014;Wallnöfer and Essl 2016).
Carex muskingumensis has been cultivated in Europe as an ornamental plant (Tomaškin, Tomaškinová, and Kizeková 2015). In 1947, it was recorded, for the first time outside cultivation, in the Czech Republic, on a dumping ground in Brno-Pisárky (Grüll 1952;Jedlička 1949;Řepka and Grulich 2014). The species was subsequently reported in 2010 and 2012, in Bohemia along the Vltava River (north of Prague) and in the flood plain forest near Vranovice in southern Moravia, respectively (Řepka and Grulich 2014). In the Czech Republic, the species belongs to the casual alien plants, i.e. "alien species that may flourish and even reproduce occasionally in an area, but which do not form self-replacing populations, and which rely on repeated introductions for their persistence" (Pyšek, Sadlo, and Mandak 2002). In Germany, Carex muskingumensis appeared outside cultivation in 1992 (Gregor et al. 2012;Kramer 1992;Otto, Gebauer, and Hardtke 2015). In Austria, the sedge was discovered in 2002 along a rivulet downstream from a market garden near the western border of Vienna (Wallnöfer and Essl 2016). In 2003, Carex muskingumensis was for the first time recorded in the Netherlands (in Bemmel, Gelderland), and has been found in numerous localities since, particularly in the provinces of Gelderland and Noord-Brabant (Koopman 2015b;van der Meijden and Holverda 2006). In Sweden, the species has been known since 2007 as a casual species (Karlsson 2003;Karlsson and Agestam 2014). It has also been reported from Belgium, for the first time in The species has two morphotypes, i.e. with bulbills in the inflorescence and without them. Distribution of these morphotypes has clear geographical patterns, and therefore these are usually regarded as subspecies. Allium carinatum subsp. carinatum is a widely distributed viviparous morphotype with numerous bulbills in the base of pedicells and rarely produced seeds, whereas Allium carinatum subsp. pulchellum (G.Don) Bonnier & Layens (A. cirrhosum Vand.) has umbels with flowers only, numerous seeds, and grows in Southern Europe from Greece to France (Stearn 1978(Stearn , 1980. Stearn (1978) is the best reference for the complicated taxonomy of "Allium pulchellum".

Distribution and habitat
Austrocylindropuntia subulata is native to south Perù (Anderson 2001;Berthet 1990). It was introduced in Australia, Madagascar, North Africa and Europe (Allorge-Bioteau 2002 ;Berthet 1990;Dobignard 1997;Potter and Ruthrford 2013). In the Mediterranean it is reported as naturalized in Portugal, Spain, Morocco, peninsular Italy, Sardinia and Sicily (DAISIE 2017;Dobignard 1997). This species occurs on disturbed habitats such as abandoned fields, roadsides and waste areas. In Albania it is infrequently cultivated as ornamental along the coast up to 200-300 m. For this country, Austrocylindropuntia subulata can be considered a casual alien species.

Taxonomic notes
Austrocylindropuntia subulata can be distinguished from Austrocylindropuntia cylindrica (Lam.) Backeb., and other widespread species of Austrocylindropuntia cultivated and naturalized in the Mediterranean (DAISIE 2009), by its areoles with 1-4 spines, 5-7 cm long, instead of 2-6 spines, 1-2 cm long. The fruits in Austrocylindropuntia subulata are up to 10 cm long, while in Austrocylindropuntia cylindrica they are 4-5 cm long (Potter and Ruthrford 2013). but rather rare in Northern Europe and southern and eastern Central Europe (Austria, Baltic regions, Hungary, Poland, Scandinavia, Slovakia) (Christensen 1992; Gostyńska-Jakusewska and Hrabětová-Uhrová 1981; Kerényi-Nagy 2015; Kurtto, Sennikov, and Lampinen 2013;Oklejewicz et al. 2014;Schmidt 2002). It grows in similar habitats (e.g. forest fringes, woody pastures, and open forests) as per other hawthorn species, mainly on mesic, neutral soils. In the northern part of its range it reaches the lowlands, in the south-eastern part its occurrences are rather restricted to the submontane belt with Fagetalia forest communities.

Examined specimens (new record)
Crataegus macrocarpa had no reliable records from Romania (Ciocârlan 2009;Kurtto, Sennikov, and Lampinen 2013). The species was found in the Meseș Mts (Central Transylvania) in 2014, wherein the locality is situated approx. 200 km SE of its previously known eastern edge of range in NE Hungary. However, it is a typical poorly known, often overlooked taxon; therefore, further observations are expected in the submontane regions of W Romania.

Taxonomic notes
Notwithstanding the relatively low number of accepted species in Europe, the genus Crataegus is often considered to be both taxonomically and nomenclaturally an especially complicated group. Crataegus macrocarpa itself is an entity of hybrid origin; however, its status and synonymy have been widely discussed (Byatt 1976;Christensen 1992;Franco 1968). Recently, it has generally been treated as a hybrid of Crataegus laevigata (Poir.) DC. and Crataegus rhiphydophylla Gand. (Kurtto, Sennikov, and Lampinen 2013;Lippert 1995), which has, nevertheless, a coherent distribution area. According to sometimes controversial identification keys (Holub and Zázvorka 2002;Schmidt 2002;Fischer, Adler, and Oswald 2008;Kerényi-Nagy 2015) Crataegus macrocarpa has 1-3 styles and nutlets (Crataegus laevigata: 2, exceptionally 1 or 3; Crataegus × media Bechst.: 1-2); and narrow, long sepals (Crataegus laevigata and Crataegus × media have broad, short sepals). Furthermore, Crataegus macrocarpa is also distinguishable from Crataegus laevigata by the deeper lobed leaves. The newly discovered locality of Carex muskingumensis is situated in south-eastern Poland, near the village of Uście Gorlickie. Two clumps of Carex muskingumensis were found growing in the near-shore zone of a dam reservoir on the river Ropa near Lake Klimkowskie. One clump consisted of several hundreds of stems, including about 30 generative ones; the other clump consisted of several tens of stems, including six generative ones. At a low water level, the population grew on the muddy bottom of the reservoir (in our estimation, at a normal water level the sedge patches have to be immersed down to a depth of about 20-30 cm). The sedges were accompanied by a mass occurrence of Eleocharis acicularis (L.) Roem. & Schult. and scattered specimens of Veronica anagallisaquatica L., Juncus compressus Jacq. and Epilobium adnatum Griseb. The first Polish report dates from 2015; like in other European countries, the species is considered to be an ephemerophyte. However, on account of its resistance to temperature changes, the lack of any particular requirements as to the soil type (the sedge usually prefers moist and moderately shaded sites, but can also grow in dry and sunny localities), as well as its ability to vigorously vegetative reproduce (Tomaškin, Tomaškinová, and Kizeková 2015), the occurrence of the sedge should be monitored and new stands recorded and reported.

Distribution and habitat
Crataegus macrocarpa is widespread or scattered in northern Central Europe (Czech Republic, Germany),

Distribution and habitat
Lagurus ovatus subsp. nanus was previously known from Morocco, Spain, peninsular Italy, Sicily, Egypt, Israel and Greece (Euro+Med Plantbase 2017). In southern Albania it was found in a waste area along the coast. On the contrary, Lagurus subsp. ovatus is the most common subspecies occurring in the rest of the coast of Albania.  (Messeri 1942).

Distribution and habitat
Najas guadelupensis is native to the Americas, widespread in the USA as far north as the Canadian borderland, and scattered in Mexico, the West Indies and South America (Haynes 1979(Haynes , 2000. Within the native range it shows some invasive tendency, mainly in artificial aquatic habitats (channels, ponds) (DiTomaso and Healy 2003;DiTomaso et al. 2013), and in rice fields (Seaman 1983); due to its supposed invasive potential it is classified as a "high risk plant" in some countries (e.g. New Zealand: Champion, de Winton, and Clayton 2014). It is known as an aquarium plant (Mühlberg 1980); however, notwithstanding other aquatic plants with cross-border trade (e.g. Elodea spp.), expressly few and relatively late introductions were recorded outside of the native range. It was found in N. Israel (Witztum and Chaouat 1991), supposedly as a result of the fish trade, and, as first in Europe, in Slovakia (Kaplan 2010) in thermal waters, probably intentionally planted.

Distribution and habitat
The known distribution area of Dactylorhiza lapponica covers northern Europe, the Alps and the northern Carpathians (Delforge 2006;Vlčko, Dítě, and Kolník 2003). Presence of the species in some Central European countries has been detected only during recent decades, e.g. Austria and Switzerland (Reinhard 1985), Germany (Gallerach and Wucherpfennig 1987), France (Amardeilh 1997), Slovakia (Vlčko 1995) and Hungary (Dítě, Eliáš, and Király 2006). Dactylorhiza lapponica grows in in low-herb communities of springs and fens, and along mountain streams (Dítě, Eliáš, and Király 2006). The species occurs from lowlands to alpine altitudinal zones (Delforge 2006). Occurrence of Dactylorhiza lapponica in Romanian was previously unknown. Overlooked herbarium sheets collected 50 years ago, together with a newly found locality, represent the most south-eastern known population of the species. The habitat of the newly found locality near Călăţele is characterized by sligtly acidic soil (pH 6.0), with high (15.4%) organic matter content and very low carbonate (< 0.05%), phosphorous (60 mg/kg), potassium (174 mg/kg) and nitrogen (58.8 mg/kg) content.

Distribution and habitat
Opuntia stricta is native to SW USA, Cuba and the Bahamas islands (Anderson 2001;Berthet 1990). It has been introduced in North and South America, North and Central Africa, Europe, East Asia, East Australia (Hochstätter 2015;Nobel 1988). In the Mediterranean, it is reported as naturalized in Algeria, France, peninsular Italy, Lybia, Morocco, Sicily, Spain and Tunisia (African Plant Database 2017; DAISIE 2017) and it is expanding further, becoming even more aggressive in the most fragile habitats, such as small islands (Celesti-Grapow et al. 2010.
Opuntia stricta was found with few individuals at Përmet in a waste area among the ruins of an abandoned Italian military building dating back to the Second World War. This species is infrequently cultivated along the coast and in the basal belt in Albania. For this country, it can be considered a casual alien species.

Taxonomic notes
Opuntia stricta is a prostrated or erect shrub up to 1 m tall; stem segments up to 20-30 cm; areoles without spines, or occasionally one; fruit to 6 cm long, purplish red (Anderson 2001). These characteristics easily distinguish this species from Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill., cultivated and naturalized along the coast and basal belt of Albania.

Distribution and habitat
The species is a parasite of Artemisia alba Turra, described from Serbia and subsequently found in Bulgaria (Beck 1890). Recently, it was also recorded in S. France and Spain (Carlón et al. 2005, under the name Orobanche ozanonis F.W.Schmidt ex Beck).
In Albania, it was found in dozens of mature individuals on Artemisia alba, in the Mount Dhëmbel on the NE slope overlooking the village of Përmet, between 900 and 1300 m above the sea level.

Taxonomic notes
Orobanche serbica was initially considered close to O. alba Willd. (Beck 1890), but the absence of red glandular The species has already been reported from Hungary, but only on the checklist of aquatic aliens (Lukács et al. 2016), and it was introduced into the Hungarian identification key (Király 2009); nevertheless, accurate localities and habitats have not yet been published from the country. Najas guadelupensis was found in Hungary at two localities, always in connection with thermal water. In Budapest it was probably intentionally planted on thermal lakes fed by natural warm springs, though this stand has recently disappeared. On the contrary, the species has a stable occurrence in the water body of Tapolca Creek, which is an outflow of the thermal spring "Lake Cave". Here, it grows together with other exotic aliens (e.g. Egeria densa Planch., Hydrocotyle ranunculoides L. f., Vallisneria spp.), and its further spread is probably blocked even by the neighboring stronger invaders. Despite the recently limited invasion in this locality, the species is still a potential threat to the aquatic habitats of Hungary and the Pannonian Basin, especially in the region of Lake Balaton, which is rich in channels and rivers connected to thermal springs.

Taxonomic notes
Najas guadelupensis belongs to the subgenus Caulinia (Willd.) Rendle, which comprises monoecious species with slender stem and leaves, generally (excluding N. minor All.) without spines on the stem internodes and the leaf midrib. The subgenus has three native (N. minor, N. flexilis (Willd.) Rostk. & Schmidt and N. tenuissima (A.Braun) Magnus), and three introduced (Najas gracillima (A.Braun ex Engelm.) Magnus, Najas graminea Del. and Najas guadelupensis) species in Europe. Compared to the similar representatives of the subgenus, Najas guadelupensis differs from Najas tenuissima and Najas gracillima by having unicellular leaf teeth (both of the latter have multicellular teeth), and from Najas graminea by the rounded to truncate leaf sheaths and pitted seeds (the latter has deeply auriculate leaf sheaths and smooth seeds), respectively (Haynes 1979(Haynes , 2000Triest 1988). Hybrids of Najas guadelupensis have been demonstrated with the phylogenetic sister Najas flexilis (Les, Sheldon, and Tippery 2010). Najas guadelupensis is a polymorphic species; its infraspecific taxa have been assessed in different ways: as varieties or subspecies (Haynes 1979(Haynes , 2000.

Taxonomic notes
In Poland, Sedum rubens may be confused with the somewhat morphologically similar Sedum album L., a species currently spreading in the country (Tokarska-Guzik 2005). However, Sedum rubens differs from the letter in shape of flowers and petals. Besides, it is an annual plant, while Sedum album is a perennial (Webb, Akeroyd, and 'T Hart 2007).

Distribution and habitat
Rootstock hybrid originating in Europe. It is known as a casual or naturalized alien in Greece, Italy and Spain (Ardenghi et al. 2014). Rootstok taxa often occur naturalized in agricultural areas, spreading by vegetative or sexual reproduction. In Albania, this nothospecies was observed in the Përmet district in several localities in agricultural areas. In Pils (2016, 296), a photo of this hybrid rootstock is labelled as Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris (C.C.Gmel.) Hegi.

Taxonomic notes
Recently, all the hybrid rootstocks commonly used since the last century in Italy have been named (Ardenghi et al. 2014) which intensified the floristic survey of these alien taxa in the Italian territory and the surrounding areas (Ardenghi, Banfi, and Galasso 2015). The identification of this nothotaxon was conducted on the basis of the key and morphological description in Ardenghi et al. (2014). hairs on the flowers and the small size of the corolla noted by Carlón et al. (2008), and also observed on the Albanian plants, suggests that it is taxonomically closer to the group of Orobanche minor Sm.

Distribution and habitat
Oxalis articulata is native to East temperate and South America. In Europe and in the Mediterranean, it is reported as naturalized in Algeria, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Libya, Norway, Slovenia, Turkey and the United Kingdom (African Plant Database 2017; DAISIE 2017; Euro+Med Plantbase 2017). In the most recent floras of Albania (Pils 2016;Qosja et al. 1992;Vangjeli 2015), only the native Oxalis acetosella L. and Oxalis corniculata L. and the exotic Oxalis dillenii Jacq., Oxalis fontana Bunge, Oxalis pes-caprae L. and Oxalis stricta L. have been reported.
In Albania, the species is cultivated for ornamental reasons along the coast and near villages. For this country, it can be considered a casual alien species.

Taxonomic notes
This species can be easily distinguished from the other species of Oxalis reported from Albania by the pink colour of the corollas and the rhizome, which is made up of many roundish segments.

Distribution and habitat
Sedum rubens originates from Eastern Mediterranean (' T Hart and Eggli 2003). The species is distributed mainly in the Mediterranean region, i.e. in southern Europe, northern Africa, Asia Minor and the Canary Islands; it is also noted in Central Europe, Crimea and northern Iran (Carlström 1985;Jäger and Werner 2002;'T Hart and Eggli 2003;Webb, Akeroyd, and 'T Hart 2007). The species occurs within dry, stony or gravel habitats on different soil types, between ca Arkadiusz Nowak has worked on the syntaxonomy of Middle Asian vegetation, with special focus on forest, scree, rock, segetal and riparian vegetation, for more than 11 years. He has conducted many field studies in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The author's contributions comprised field studies and preparation of selected parts of the manuscript. field studies in Siberia, China and Tajikistan, focusing on their diversity, systematics and biogeography. The author's contributions comprised analyses of data and preparation of selected parts of the manuscript.
Miklós Óvári interests cover taxonomy, chorology and ecology of vascular plants (especially orchids). The author's contributions comprised field research and preparation of selected parts of the manuscript. Beata Paszko is an agrostologist interested in th taxonomy of selected grass genera, i.e. Agrostis, Calamagrostis, Deschampsia, Deyeuxia and Zingeria, based on morphology, anatomy, cytology and molecular markers. The author's contributions comprised revision of herbarium materials and preparation of selected parts of the manuscript. of Chinese Academy of Sciences (since 2012) and member of the Russian Botanical Society and Botanical Society of America. His main research fields are flora of Russia; flora of the Himalayas; flora of Africa; plant anatomy; and taxonomic, carpological, and molecular revisions of Chenopodiaceae, Molluginaceae, Nyctaginaceae and Asteraceae. A.S. is the author or co-author of the taxonomic treatments of some families in the manual identifications of European Russia and Caucasus, as well as Flora of China, Flora of Iraq, Flora of Palestine, Flora of Russia (general editor), and Flora of Central Africa projects. The author's contributions comprised revision of the herbarium collections and preparation of selected parts of the manuscript (Amaranthaceae). Bing Liu is a researcher at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, currently working on taxonomy and biogeography of Chinese flora. The author co-wrote selected parts of manuscript.
Attila V. Molnár interests cover taxonomy, chorology and ecology of vascular plants (especially orchids). The author's contributions comprised field research and preparation of selected parts of the manuscript.

Marina Olonova (Biological Institute of Tomsk State
University) has worked on the systematics and evolution of bluegrasses more than 40 years. She has conducted many