<em>Arctotheca prostrata</em> (Asteraceae: Arctotideae), a South African species now present in Mexico

Abstract

Arctothecaprostrata is a South African species, introduced in other parts of the world, such as California and Australia. In this paper, we report the presence of A. prostrata for the first time in Mexico. Currently we have detected the species in nine sites south of Mexico City. At each place, the species shows weedy tendencies. It is possible that A. prostrata arrived to Mexico through horticulture and later escaped from cultivation. At last, we consider necessary to include it in the list of Mexican prohibited weeds, and thus establish preventive strategies to avoid its spreading in the country.

Keywords

• Arctotidinae
• escaped from cultivation
• introduced weeds
• South African weeds