Sedum sarmentosum (Crassulaceae) in the Ukrainian flora

This article presents the first systematized data on the current distribution in Ukraine of the little-known neophyte Sedum sarmentosum (Crassulaceae), a species of East Asian origin. Information is summarized regarding its morphological traits, primary and secondary ranges, and ecological-coenotic preferences. This perennial creeping herbaceous plant (a leaf succulent) is cultivated as an ornamental groundcover in many countries worldwide, and in some regions it has become escaped and naturalized. In Ukraine, it has been reliably recorded in cultivation since the 1980s at the Sofiyivka National Dendrological Park of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Uman, Cherkasy Region). Wild-growing specimens were first discovered in 2012 in the city of Uzhhorod, and later in other settlements. The difficulty of distinguishing spontaneous occurrences from colonies at former cultivation sites is discussed. A distribution map of S. sarmentosum in Ukraine is provided. The species is strictly confined to anthropogenic habitats. It occurs either as solitary plants or in small colonies within ruderal communities. In the alien flora of Ukraine, this alien species is classified as a colonophyte or, in some cases, as an ephemerophyte, based on its degree of naturalization.