Despite the wide amount of scientific contributions published on alien plant species, their diffusion dynamics, and their interactions with native taxa, it is increasingly difficult to slow down their spreading and their negative impact on habitats. Last recent years, in fact, a sharp rise in the number of new alien plant taxa introduced in Italy and Europe has been recorded. The aim of this work is to investigate most of the Italian territory in order to verify whether this alarming trend is still underway. Specimen collections and/or observations of alien plants have been performed in as many as 12 Italian regions. All the collected specimens are stored in public or private herbaria. Taxa have been identified according to the literature from the countries of origin of the investigated taxa, while the nomenclature followed the current international references. Updates on 106 taxa are reported. In particular, among 117 new records, 89 are first records, 27 are changes to status and there is 1 extinction. Seven new taxa for Italian alien flora are reported, two of which are new to Europe. The administrative regions with the highest number of records are Calabria (48), Sardegna (17) and Sicilia (15). Five of the surveyed taxa, for the first time, have been considered invasive aliens to Italian territory. The unfrequent amount of original results provided by this work, over the simple importance of data itself, proves how floristic investigation, still today, represents one of the most effective tools in broadening the current knowledge about alien taxa and their dynamics.

A comparative karyotype analysis of four species of yellow-flowered Eranthis sect. Eranthis, i.e., E. bulgarica, E. cilicica, E. hyemalis, and E. longistipitata from different areas, has been carried out for the first time. All the studied specimens had somatic chromosome number 2n = 16 with basic chromosome number x = 8. Karyotypes of the investigated plants included five pairs of metacentric chromosomes and three pairs of submetacentric/subtelocentric chromosomes. The chromosome sets of the investigated species differ mainly in the ratio of submetacentric/subtelocentric chromosomes, their relative lengths, and arm ratios. A new oligonucleotide probe was developed and tested to detect 45S rDNA clusters. Using this probe and an oligonucleotide probe to 5S rDNA, 45S and 5S rDNA clusters were localized for the first time on chromosomes of E. cilicica, E. hyemalis, and E. longistipitata. Major 45S rDNA clusters were identified on satellite chromosomes in all the species; in E. cilicica, minor clusters were also identified in the terminal regions of one metacentric chromosome pair. The number and distribution of 5S rDNA clusters is more specific. In E. cilicica, two major clusters were identified in the pericentromeric region of a pair of metacentric chromosomes. Two major clusters in the pericentromeric region of a pair of submetacentric chromosomes and two major clusters in the interstitial region of a pair of metacentric chromosomes were observed in E. longistipitata. E. hyemalis has many clusters of different sizes, localized mainly in the pericentromeric regions. Summarizing new data on the karyotype structure of E. sect. Eranthis and previously obtained data on E. sect. Shibateranthis allowed conclusions to be formed about the clear interspecific karyological differences of the genus Eranthis.

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The study of a country’s flora is an open-ended work influenced by environmental changes, advances in taxonomical research, and the development of new data collection methods. In Italy, floristic research has evolved from early botanical records to digital databases allowing real-time updates. This study, conducted within the Italian Botanical Society, aimed at verifying, updating and expanding knowledge on species with uncertain, extinct, or excluded status. Starting in 2021, researchers from all regions of Italy collaborated to review literature, herbarium specimens, and field data. Their efforts culminated in 839 regional-level assessments of 628 taxa, leading to 276 changes in regional status and 25 at the national level. These updates are of great significance for nature conservation efforts by confirming species presence in some regions while verifying extinctions, particularly in fragile aquatic habitats. This research also underscores the importance of botanical collections and historical records to reconstruct the history, dynamics, and current distribution of plant species, and addresses challenges such as limited access to the collections. This study is not only a milestone in Italian floristics but also provides a replicable methodology for updating national floras globally.

Biological invasions of alien aquatic plants are a major threat to conservation of freshwater habi­tats, as well as a socio-economic problem. Introduced primarily by human activities, these alien plants compete with native species, reduce local biodiversity and alter structure and function of the aquatic ecosystems. This review examines the most relevant scientific literature on the major invasive alien aquatic plants (IAAPs) found in Europe (Alternanthera philoxeroides, Azolla filiculoides, Cabomba caroliniana, Egeria densa, Elodea canadensis, E. nuttallii, Gymnocoronis spilanthoides, Hydrilla verticillata, Hydrocotyle ranunculoides, Lagarosiphon major, Lemna minuta, Ludwigia grandiflora, L. hexapetala, L. peploides subsp. montevidensis, Myriophyllum aquaticum, M. heterophyllum, Pistia stratiotes, Pontederia crassipes, Salvinia molesta), with a special focus on impacts exerted by these species on invaded freshwater ecosystems. It includes both qualitative and quantitative analyses and evaluates the temporal trends of the scientific contributions considering the impact and management of these species in Europe and worldwide. Despite a recent increase in contributions on these IAAPs, the knowledge on their impacts in Europe remains mainly concentrated on a few species and rather fragmented and deficient on others. In fact, evident inequalities emerge among these IAAPs in both the number of dedicated contributions and in the treatment of each species, as some of them are currently excluded from the list of IAS of Union Concern. Moreover, the European level research on these IAAPs turned out to be scarcely influenced by the “listing” effect (i.e. inclusion of IAAPs in the Union list), showing little or no increase in the number of studies on impact or management. The studies found on impacts document that the selected IAAPs largely exert environmental impacts on invaded ecosystems by altering both the abiotic (water chemical and physical factors) and biotic (plant and animal communities) components. The impact mechanisms of these species vary (chemical, physical, structural, competitive, toxicity) and were classified according to the EICAT (Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa) protocol. Overall, the review reveals significant gaps in knowledge about the environmental impacts of most of these IAAPs in Europe, despite some being included in the list of IAS of Union concern. To address these gaps and protect European freshwater ecosystems from biological invasions, more field studies supported by laboratory investigations are needed, followed by effective management interventions. In addition, it is considered necessary that impactful alien species with a wide distribution in Europe, but which are currently excluded from the EU list, be included as soon as possible. This would allow for coordinated management practices at the European level, which are essential for their containment.

The invasion of alien plant species outside of their home range constitutes an emerging problem threatening native plant diversity. The expansion of alien species is often favored in anthropogenic habitats, such as roads and urbanized areas, which allow the rapid colonization of new sites by these species. The development of suitable monitoring methods is fundamental both to keep pace with the fast expansion dynamics of these species and to enable appropriate and prompt control strategies. In this work, an efficient, accessible, and cost-effective method for monitoring alien plants using a smartphone is proposed (smartphone-monitoring—SPM). Using smartphones with a geolocation system, geographic coordinates of images matched to single plant records can be easily acquired and structured into exportable databases in a few steps. We tested the SPM method on three black-listed alien plants, Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle, Arundo donax L., and Robinia pseudoacacia L., along the road network and in major urban centers of the Tuscany region (central Italy).