Literature review: Impact of Chilean needle grass ... - Weeds Australia

Argentina, in the provinces of Chaco, Corrientes and Misiones, are possibly not var. neesiana (Gardener 1998). The specimen
from Paraguay was not assigned to a variety by Zanin (2008).
Introduced range outside Australia
Europe, first found in Europe in France by Touchy in 1847 at Port Juvenal, Montpellier; early records from imports on hides and
wool (Hayward and Druce 1919). Mediterranean (unspecified, Jessop et al. 2006); occurs “from time to time, particularly in the
Mediterranean region” (Martinovský 1980); believed to be an unintentional introduction to south-western Europe “apparently ...
absent as naturalized ... from the rest of Europe” (Verloove 2005). Not recognised as present in Europe outside the British Isles
and the Canary Islands and Madiera by Weber (2003).
British Isles: Weber (2003) considered it to be not invasive in natural areas nor solely a weed of agroecosystems. Scotland: a
wool-alien first found on the banks of the River Gala below the town of Galashiels, County Selkirk by Ida Hayward in 1916
(Hayward and Druce 1919); now extinct in that area (Vines 2006); recorded near wool factories (Bourdôt and Hurrell 1987a).
England: found on a rubbish heap at Mortlake, Surrey, in 1916 (Hayward and Druce 1919); sometimes more or less naturalised
in the south east, scattered in England (Stace 1997); “certainly” naturalised (Gardener 1998); first recorded at Mort Lake (sic) in
1916, Kirkheaton in 1960, Mossley and Mauldenin 1965, Flitton in 1969 and Ware in 1988 (Gardener 1998).
Portugal: including Azores (Madiera) (Martín Osorio et al. 2000, Verloove 2005), first recorded on Madiera in 1970 (Gardener
1998) and known from Coimbra on the Iberian Peninsula (Vàzquez and Devesa 1996 as N. mucronata).
Spain: including Alt Empordà, Rossellò near Lleida (Font et al. 2001) and Gerona in Catalonia (Verloove 2005), Madrid
(Vàzquez and Devesa 1996 as N. mucronata) and the Canary Islands, specifically Gran Canaria, Gomera and Tenerife (Martín
Osorio et al. 2000, Sans-Elorza et al. 2005, Verloove 2005); “becoming naturalised” (Scholz and Krigas 2004, p. 78); not
considered an “established alien” in continental Spain (Gassó et al. 2009). First detected in the Canaries in May 1964 by J. Lid in
the dominion of Monte Verde de Anaga on the island of Tenerife (Martín Osorio et al. 2000). Distribution maps for the Canary
Islands and the Parque Rural de Anaga on Tenerife were provided by Martín Osorio et al. (2000).
France: including Corsica (Martín Osorio et al. 2000, Verloove 2005), where it rapidly proliferated (Font et al. 2001);
“introduced into southern France” (Barkworth 2006); “becoming naturalised” (Scholz and Krigas 2004 p. 78); recorded near
wool factories (Bourdôt and Hurrell 1987a); adventive in the Montpellier region, introduced with wool and “plus et moins
naturalisées ... dans des stations naturelles” (Thellung 1912 p. 654), including Port Juvénal 1847-1877, Montplaisir 1877,
Lodève 1877 and Bèdarieux 1894 (op. cit. p. 94), introduced to Lodève in wool (op. cit. p. 614); present in the neighbourhood of
Port Juvénal “for a long period of years in the [wool] drying yards at Montplaisir near Lodève and Bèdarieux on the river Orb,
both in the Hérault” in the 18th and 19th centuries, and in 1909 on beaches away from factories below St Hélène and Caras at
Nice (Hayward and Druce 1919 p. 228). First recorded at Lodeve in 1847 (Gardener 1998) or 1877 (Thellung 1912), Montpellier
in 1894 (Gardener 1998) and Nice in 1909 (Thellung 1912, Gardener 1998).
Germany: adventive in Berlin and Anhalt (Thellung 1912); recorded at Rodleben wool factory at Rosslau, Anhalt, in 1910
(Hayward and Druce 1919); recorded near wool factories (Bourdôt and Hurrell 1987a).
Italy: Map: Moraldo (1986 p. 237). ‘Adventitious naturalised’ in grassy areas (Moraldo 1986 p. 217); “becoming naturalised”
(Scholz and Krigas 2004 p. 78). First reported on the banks of the Polcervera near Genoa, 1904, at a tan works that had hides
from Argentina (Hayward and Druce 1919, Moraldo 1986), then in other localities in Liguria (Moraldo 1986); first recorded at
Bordighera in 1910 (Gardener 1998). ‘Most recently’ in Rome at Villa Ada, first collected in 1970 (Moraldo 1986 p. 217). Rome
and Liguria (Verloove 2005); recorded near wool factories (Bourdôt and Hurrell 1987a).
Greece: East Macedonia, Nomos and Eparchia of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki city “mowed and watered lawn of a traffic island
within the University campus, about 100 individuals in total, fragmented in patches of 10-20 individuals each”, herbarium
specimen 22 May 2002 (Scholz and Krigas 2004 p. 78).
South Africa (Gibbs Russell et al. 1985, Wells et al. 1986), “threatens to invade disturbed grassland areas from the Cape into the
Transvaal” (Wells and Stirton 1982); first found in Barkley East in 1941, “emerging as serious weed” and common in the
Eastern Cape province (Gardener 1998 p. 12), also in Free State province, at altitudes of 600-1700 m (Germishuizen and Meyer
2003). First recorded from Grahamstown and Bosberg in 1968, Adelaide in 1977, Ladybrand in 1988 and Sterkstroom at an
unknown date (Gardener 1998).
New Zealand: Jacobs et al. (1989 Fig. 2) and Slay (2002a) provided country maps. First recorded in 1940 by H.H. Allan, with
the earliest specimen undated, but probably collected in the late 1920s in Auckland (Jacobs et al. 1989, Edgar et al. 1991). A
very restricted, discrete distribution. Limited to about 1500 ha of pasture in Marlborough and smaller areas in Hawkes Bay and
Auckland (Bourdôt and Hurrell 1989a); 3000 ha in Marlborough by 2001, 600 ha infested in Hawkes Bay by 2002 (Slay2002).
North Island: Auckland (first recorded during the late 1930s, “a few plants still occur today in a public domain at Western
Springs” (Bourdôt and Ryde 1986) a “picnic area” and “a railway enthusiasts station” (Slay 2002a p. 11)), Waitakere Ranges,
Waipawa (central Hawkes Bay) (Jacobs et al. 1989, Edgar et al. 1991, Edgar and Connor 2000); first collected probably in the
late 1920s in the Waitakare Ranges, and c. 1962 at Hawkes Bay (Connor et al. 1993), although the Waipawa infestation possibly
may have arisen from contaminated seed from Marlborough sown in the early 1950s (Slay 2002a); an estimated total of 600 ha
infested in Hawkes Bay (Slay 2002a). South Island: Marlborough (roadsides and pastures near Blind River, Seddon and Lake
Grassmere) (Jacobs et al. 1989, Edgar and Connor 2000), near Blenheim Airport and farms at Renwick (Connor et al. 1993),
with first occurrence anecdotally dated to about 1930 (Bourdôt and Hurrell 1989a) but said to be first found there about 1945
(Bourdôt and Ryde 1986). 1n 1986 it was present on 7 farms and about 30 ha at Waipawa, with isolated plants over up to 1 km
along the Waipawa River, and at Blind River it was present on at least 15 farms, with c. 100 ha densely infested (Bourdôt and
Ryde 1986); recently located in the Awatere valley 33 km from Blind River (Slay 2002a). The Auckland and Marlborough-
Hawkes Bay populations are distinct forms, differing in a few characters, and represent separate provenances (Connor et al.
1993). The Auckland material has long hairy laminae and lemma nerves, with hairs on the main lemma nerve almost reaching
the corona (Jacobs et al. 1989). Weber (2003) considered it to be not invasive in natural areas or solely a weed of
agroecosystems.
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