Datura innoxia Mill. 1768

Sennikov, Alexander & Lazkov, Georgy, 2022, The first checklist of alien vascular plants of Kyrgyzstan, with new records and critical evaluation of earlier data. Contribution 2, Biodiversity Data Journal 10, pp. 80804-80804 : 80804

Datura innoxia Mill. 1768

Datura innoxia Mill., Gard. Dict., ed. 8: Datura no. 5 (1768).

Datura innoxia Datura meteloides

Datura innoxia inoxia Barkworth and Rabei 2020

Distribution

Native distribution

Central America.

Secondary distribution

North and South America, Europe, Africa, Southern Asia, Australia.

Distribution in Central Asia

Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan.

The species was recorded as a rare alien in Uzbekistan, observed as ruderal or escaped from cultivation ( Kovalevskaya 1961).

Reported from Kyrgyzstan for the first time here.

Distribution in Kyrgyzstan

Northern Tian-Shan (Fig. 6 ).

So far, the species has been recently recorded from the only locality on the southern margin of Bishkek City, in 2017, by G. Lazkov. A single individual was noticed on a dumping area of the cemetery. This occurrence is apparently casual.

Ecology

Dry open forests and shrublands in the native distribution area; cultivated lands, roadsides, ruderal places in the secondary distribution area. It occurs at altitudes of 1200-1800 m a.s.l. in Mexico ( Luna-Cavazos and Bye 2011).

Biology

Short-lived perennial with a thick root.

Notes

The species is a popular ornamental and medicinal plant, also in the native distribution area ( Luna-Cavazos and Bye 2011).

Introduction to Kyrgyzstan

Period of introduction

Neophyte.

The species was cultivated in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan for at least 60 years ( Nikitina 1960, Kovalevskaya 1961). It was noted to self-seed ( Nikitina 1960) but has never been reported as running wild in Kyrgyzstan. Its current subspontaneous occurrence, first recorded in 2017, may be linked with an increasingly common use of the plant in ornamental cultivation, which has been observed in recent years (Lazkov, pers. obs.; Fig. 7 ).

Pathways of introduction

Escape from confinement: Ornamental purpose other than horticulture.

The species is cultivated for ornamental purposes in private gardens and public areas, and is sometimes found in waste sites. As in Europe (e.g. Gudžinskas 2017), its subspontaneous occurrences originated through garden waste. Further dispersal does not occur.

Invasion status

Casual.

Evidence of impact

Agriculture - no impact (not recorded in crop production areas). Native ecosystems - no impact (restricted to urbanised areas). Urban areas - minor impact (rarely escapes and occurs in ruderal places).

Trend

Increasing (inferred).

Figures

Figure 6. The subspontaneous occurrence of Datura innoxia in Kyrgyzstan.

Figure 7. Datura innoxia in ornamental cultivation in Bishkek (photo by G. Lazkov, 21 July 2020).