1. Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don (Medit.) – A very rare escape from cultivation. Two individuals have recently been discovered in two rather remote localities in coastal dunes in the Westhoek nature reserve in Adinkerke-De Panne. They were first seen in 2009 and subsequently confirmed. A more or less similar recent record is available from the British Isles (Last 2007). Since 2015 also known from a quay wall of river IJzer in Nieuwpoort. In this locality Helichrysum italicum is grown for ornament and has escaped to the nearby quays. It occurs with many tens of individuals, all prolifically flowering and fruiting, and seems to be quite well established.
Helichrysum italicum is increasingly cultivated as an ornamental in private gardens in Belgium, especially in climatologically mild areas near the coast.
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Selected literature:
Galbany M., Sáez L. & Benedí C. (2006a) Conspectus of Helichrysum Mill. sect. Stoechadina (DC.) Gren. & Godr. (Asteraceae, Gnaphalieae). Orsis 21: 59-81.
Galbany M., Sáez L. & Benedí C. (2006b) A taxonomic revision of Helichrysum Sect. Stoechadina (DC.) Gren. & Godr. (Asteraceae, Gnaphalieae). Canadian Journal of Botany 84(8): 1203-1232.
Galbany-Casals M., Benedí C., Romaschenko K. & Sáez L. (2011) A taxonomic revision of Helichrysum Mill. sect. Helichrysum (Asteraceae, Gnaphalieae). Syst. Bot. Monogr.
Galbany-Casals M., Blanco-Moreno J. M., Garcia-Jacas N., Breitwieser I. & Smissen R. (2011) Genetic variation in Mediterranean Helichrysum italicum (Asteraceae; Gnaphalieae): do disjunct populations of subsp. microphyllum have a common origin? Plant Biology 13: 678-687.
Last B. (2007) Helichrysum italicum at Dungeness E. Kent. BSBI News 106: 36.