Xanthium spinosum L. 1753

Sennikov, Alexander N. & Lazkov, Georgy A., 2021, The first checklist of alien vascular plants of Kyrgyzstan, with new records and critical evaluation of earlier data. Contribution 1, Biodiversity Data Journal 9, pp. 75590-75590 : 75590

Xanthium spinosum L. 1753

Xanthium spinosum L., Sp. Pl. 2: 987 (1753) - Acanthoxanthium spinosum (L.) Fourr., Ann. Soc. Linn. Lyon, sér. 2, 17: 110 (1869).

Diagnosis

This species is characterised by armed leaves and subglabrous elliptic burrs 1-1.5 cm long with numerous hooked prickles.

Distribution

Native distribution

The species is native to South America ( Löve 1975).

Secondary distribution

Neophyte in North America, Europe (including the Mediterranean), Southern Africa, Asia, Australia. In Europe, this species belongs to the most widely distributed alien vascular plants ( Lambdon et al. 2008).

Distribution in Central Asia

Widely distributed in all the countries ( Nabiev 1993).

In Chinese Central Asia, Xanthium spinosum was first recorded in the 1880s by A. Regel from Uqturpan County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region ( Fedtschenko and Fedtschenko 1911). This early Chinese record has been neglected in national inventories (e.g. Xu et al. 2012).

In Kazakhstan, this species occurs in four restricted areas, of which the Talas Alatau is adjacent to Kyrgyzstan ( Zaitseva 1965, Aldibekova et al. 2018). It was first observed in 1877 by I. Zarubin along the Syrdarya River between Qazaly (formerly Kazalinsk), Josaly (formerly Karmakshy) and Qyzylorda (formerly Perovsk) ( Zarubin 1879), and then on the Maŋğystau Peninsula at the Kaspian Sea (first collected in 1895).

In Uzbekistan, the species has been originally known from the eastern parts of the country (Tashkent and Samarkand Regions) ( Nabiev 1962b). The first observation made by A. Regel along the Salor irrigation channel near Tashkent was dated the 1880s ( Fedtschenko and Fedtschenko 1911); the first specimens were collected in 1912-1920 near railway stations and along roadsides.

In Tajikistan, the species was first collected as a ruderal plant from Dushanbe ( Grigoriev 1953), Xujand and Samgar in the northern part of the country ( Komarov 1967). The date of the first record is not known, but seemingly it appeared shortly after the Second World War.

In Turkmenistan, the species occurred as a rare ruderal along irrrigation ditches in and around populated places ( Nikitin 1960). The first herbarium specimen was collected in 1898.

As evident from the first herbarium specimens and observations in present-day Kazakhstan, the introduction of X. spinosum was linked to Russian fortifications that served as foreposts for the conquest and colonisation of the territory, and the roads connecting those fortifications along the Caspian Sea (established in the 1840s-1860s) and along the Syrdarya River (established in 1850s-1860s). As the species is notorious for its efficiency in contaminating various kinds of fur and wool ( Kowarik and von der Lippe 2007), it is easy to understand that X. spinosum had arrived being tangled in manes and tails of Russian military horses, gradually proceeding eastwards (as, for example, in Australia: Woolls 1885). Since the species was found extensively established already in 1877 ( Zarubin 1879), its invasion to Kazakhstan may have started in the 1860s or even earlier.

Its introduction to Turkmenistan was by the same military cavalry, probably in the 1880s. In particular, the first locality of X. spinosum , Daine Village ( Dittrich 1989), was a border post which was certainly horse-served at that time. In Uzbekistan, the species appeared also in the 1880s, using the same pathway (Tashkent was the seat of the Russian administration in Turkestan, intensely supported by the military power from European Russia).

Besides the military traffic, by the 1850s, a road from Orsk Town along the Syr-Darya River was established for regular horse-driven transportation of merchandise from Russia to the Emirate of Buxoro and back ( Nebolsin 1855), which undoubtedly promoted the further spread of X. spinosum .

The first records of the species from Kyrgyzstan are later and, therefore, are not linked with the horse power. Instead, they are firmly connected with the relocation of 2.3 million head of cattle during the second part of 1941, from the European part of the USSR to its Asiatic territories, including Central Asia ( Kumanev 2006), as a contaminant of cattle tails and fur, fodder and bedding. The same pathway can be inferred also for Tajikistan, where the species was not registered before the War time.

Distribution in Kyrgyzstan

Western Tian-Shan, Northern Tian-Shan, Alay-Turkestan (Fig. 10 ).

The species prefers arid areas with higher temperatures. It occurs in the Chü Depression with surrounding mountains and the eastern part of the Fergana Depression with surrounding mountains ( Gorbunova 1965, Deza 1983); numerous recent observations exist (Fig. 11 ). Its first record comes from railway embankments in Bishkek City between Bishkek-1 Station (formerly Pishpek) and Bishkek-2 Station (formerly Frunze), where a large population was observed in 1942 ( Nikitina 1965).

The species is also known from the Talas Depression in north-western Kyrgyzstan ( Deza 1983), although without supporting specimens. This part of its distribution agrees with the corresponding occurrences in Kazakhstan ( Aldibekova et al. 2018).

So far, the species was found in the lowlands and foothills, mostly at elevations of 600-1000 m, but also climbing up to 1650 m in the arid mountains.

Ecology

Riversides in the native distribution area; waste lands, disturbed grounds, roadsides, gravelly riversides, clayey lowlands, gardens and fallow fields in the secondary distribution area.

Biology

Annual.

Introduction to Kyrgyzstan

Period of introduction

Neophyte.

The first record from Kyrgyzstan is based on undocumented observations from railway tracks within Bishkek City, which are dated 1942 ( Nikitina 1965). The first herbarium specimens were collected from Osh Town and dated 1946. Both records are connected with the Second World War migration of refugees and relocation of resources from the European part of the USSR during 1941, which required extensive transportation of industrial equipment, human population and livestock, including a massive amount of cattle and their supply ( Kazakova and Salamov 1961, Kumanev 2006).

Pathways of introduction

Transport - Contaminant: Contaminant on animals.

The species has arrived as a contaminant on live animals, which were massively transported from south-eastern Europe. Further dispersal occurred by domestic animals and water.

In Europe, the species was also noted as a grain contaminant (e.g. Suominen 1979, Clement and Foster 1994).

Invasion status

Fully naturalised, invasive.

Evidence of impact

Agriculture - minor impact (the species may occur as a weed of vegetable plantations and was noticed in gardens and vineyards) ( Deza 1983). Native ecosystems - major impact (recorded along mountain rivers, in mountain forests and in steppe-like vegetation around populated places, mostly along roadsides). Urban areas - major impact (recorded as a ruderal in many populated places).

Trend

Increasing (observed).

Figures

Figure 10. Distribution of Xanthium spinosum in Kyrgyzstan according to herbarium specimens and our observations. The occurrence in Talas Region is borrowed from Deza (1983) and mapped tentatively.

Figure 11. Xanthium spinosum at the Toskool River, Kyrgyzstan (photo by G. Lazkov, 16 August 2021).