Page 21 - Volume 1, Issue 2, July 2008

New plant pests and weeds in Greece 73
annopolitis & Efthimiadis, 2004). Plants of
P. dichotomiflorum were only found along
the route from Orchomenos to Aliartos
and not along other main routes within
the agricultural area of Viotia. The plant
was mostly found in fields along the route
where maize was grown and to a lesser ex-
tent in fields grown with cotton, but it was
not found in fields grown with lucerne.
Particularly in maize it formed very dense
and highly competitive stands. Plants of P.
dichotomiflorum were also present in near-
by cultures of turf grown for the produc-
tion of ready-to-use turf carpets. It seems
possible, therefore, that P. dichotomiflorum
was introduced in the area through import-
ed turf seed. This must have happened re-
cently, because the plant has not spread
in the area yet. P. dichotomiflorum is an an-
nual plant reproducing by seed. A strik-
ing characteristic of this plant, as it grows
in the area, is its ability to form many til-
lers with branching stems and many pani-
cles per tiller, thus producing an enormous
amount of seeds per plant.
4.3. Concluding remarks
The three species Ipomoea hedera-
cea, Sicyos angulatus and Panicum dichot-
omiflorum, that are currently under accli-
matization in Greece, are believed to be
natives to Americas and known as very im-
portant weeds in the United States (USDA,
2008). The two of them, S. angulatus and P.
dichotomiflorun , have been present in Eu-
rope, eg. in Italy (Pignatti, 1982), but not
widespread yet.
All three species have already demon-
strated their ability of evolving into a se-
rious weed threat for irrigated summer
crops grown in Greece. Measures to effec-
tively prevent their further spread should
therefore been taken the soonest.
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