Három új fűfaj Magyarország flórájában: Paspalum dilatatum, Phalaris aquatica és Panicum schinzii

In this paper, we present the new occurrence of two grass species previously unknown in the flora of Hungary and one grass species for which we have only one historical record. Panicum schinzii Hack. is an annual species from South Africa, Paspalum dilatatum Poir. is a perennial species originating from South America, and Phalaris aquatica L. is also a perennial taxon native to the Mediterranean. The only well-developed individual of Panicum schinzii was found on a gravel reef of the Rába river in Western Hungary, while the two newly observed perennial grass species appeared in the Great Hungarian Plain: a single individual of Paspalum dilatatum was observed in a suburban environment on the southern edge of the town of Soltvadkert, while a small population of Phalaris aquatica occurs along a highway near Szeged. In this paper, we describe the European dis­tribution and habitat preference of these three species, we assess their invasion potential and we fit them into the Hungarian dichotomous key of vascular plants. Although we cannot state with certainty that the specimens of Panicum schinzii, Paspalum dilatatum and Phalaris aquatica we report here are the first ones that have ever appeared in Hungary, but their localities and the numbers of individuals suggest that they have entered the country very recently. The annual Panicum schinzii certainly arrived to Hungary naturally by the river Rába, while the perennial Paspalum dilatatum and Phalaris aquatica are more likely to have been introduced by human activities, but both inadvertently. Paspalum dilata­tum arrived to its site near Soltvadkert by accident, in the form of propagules in some intentionally sown seed mixture. The fact that all three species are considered in some countries to be invasive or at least problematic species is a cause for concern.