Dysphania botrys
2. Dysphania botrys (L.) Mosyakin et Clemants (syn.: Chenopodium botrys L.) (Medit., S-, C- and SE-As.) – A rare and usually ephemeral alien. First recorded in 1829 in the surroundings of Verviers (without further details). Furthermore found in the 19th century near Liège and Leuze, mostly as garden weed. Recorded as a very rare wool alien in the valley of river Vesdre between 1924 and 1948. In the past decades slightly increasing, especially on coal mining spoil heaps or similar schistous debris: Waterschei (1969), Ougrée and Tilff (a remarkable concentration of several locations around 1973-1974). Found on dumps in the surroundings of Turnhout (Beerse) in 1979 and 1992. Dysphania botrys was discovered in abundance on an abandoned industrial site in Tubize (Forges de Clabecq) in 2006, again on schistous substrate. Here it seems fully naturalized but its survival on the long term seems unlikely. Finally, a small population was observed in a railway yard in Borgerhout (Antwerp) in 2014, on a coal mining spoil heap in Anderlues in 2017 (subsequently confirmed) and in the Ghent port area in 2018.
Dysphania botrys often occurs in huge numbers and sometimes persists for some time (apparently locally naturalised) but as a pioneer it requires a permanently disturbed habitat and finally disappears. On a global scale, Dysphania botrys therefore is probably best regarded as an ephemeral alien in Belgium.
Selected literature:
Barendregt H.E. (1993) Druifkruid (Chenopodium botrys) en Liggende ganzevoet (Chenopodium pumilio) in opmars in Nederland. Gorteria 19(1) (FLORON-katern 5): 33-36.
Bornkamm R. & Sukopp H. (1971) Beiträge zur Ökologie von Chenopodium botrys L. 6. Die ökologische Konstitution von Chenopodium botrys. Verh. Bot. Ver. Prov. Brandenburg 108: 64-74.
Buttler K.P. (1959) Der Klebrige Gänsefuß, Chenopodium botrys L., am Flughafen bei Frankfurt a. M. Hessische Floristische Briefe 8: 423.
Dettmar J. (1991) Vorkommen und Gesellschaftsanschluß von Chenopodium botrys L. und Inula graveolens (L.) Desf. im Ruhrgebiet (Westdeutschland) sowie im regionalen Vergleich. Tuexenia 11: 49-65.
Engstrand L. & Gustafsson M. (1973) Drawings of Scandinavian plants: 86-88. Chenopodium L. Bot. Notiser 126(2): 135-141.
Langer A. (1995) Verbreitung und Vergesellschaftung von Chenopodium botrys L., Corispermum leptopterum (Aschers.) Iljin, Atriplex nitens Schkuhr und Sisymbrium irio L. auf Straßenstandorten in Berlin. Schriftenreihe für Vegetationskunde 27: 153-159.
Ludwig W. (1972) Chenopodium botrys, Ch. schraderanum und Ch. pumilio. Hess. Flor. Briefe 21(1): 2-6.
Schwarzová T. (1993) Rozsirenie druhov Chenopodium botrys L. a Ch. schraderianum Schultes v Ceskej republike a Slovenskej republike. Bull. Slov. Bot. Spoločn. 15: 16-23.
Schwarzová T. (1996) K historii rozsirenia a charakteristike stanovist Chenopodium botrys L. a Ch. schraderianum Schultes na Slovensku a v Ceskej republike. Bull. Slov. Bot. Spoločn. 18: 99-105.
Sukopp H. (1971) Beiträge zur Ökologie von Chenopodium botrys L.: 1. Verbreitung und Vergesellschaftung. Verh. Bot. Ver. Prov. Brandenburg 108: 3-25.
Weicherding F.-J. (2008) Zur Verbreitung und Soziologie von Chenopodium botrys L. (Klebriger Gänsefuss, Chenopodiaceae) im Saarland und in angrenzenden Gebieten. Abh. Delattinia 34: 19-39.
Zacharias F. (1980) Beiträge zur Ökologie von Chenopodium botrys L.: 7. Keimung, intraspezifische Konkurrenz und Phänologie. Verh. Bot. Ver. Prov. Brandenburg 115: 1-20.