Asteraceae alienae

Alien Asteraceae – the non-native daisies of Belgium:
The Asteraceae family contains more than 30,000 species, found all over the world from tropical rainforests to alpine tundra. Some of the species will be familiar to you, such as sunflowers (Helianthus), daisies (Bellis), dandelions (Taraxacum), and thistles (tribe Cynareae). This family is disproportionately rich in weeds and many have become established outside their native ranges – so called alien species – including in Belgium. Being weeds, they often arrive accidentally as stowaways or as contaminants to other seeds. Not all of the species you will find in this project are established in Belgium; some have just cropped up and survived briefly, but others have become familiar weeds in our gardens and along roads. The Botanic Garden is currently a partner in a research project that tries to predict the spread of new weeds and suggest policies and management that would help reduce the problem.

The Belgian Herbarium:
The Botanic Garden Meise holds the largest herbarium collection of Belgian plant specimens. Each of these herbarium specimens has a label with valuable information such as the plant’s identification, and when, where, and who collected the plant. These specimens can be used in many domains of research, such as conservation, evolution, ecology and systematics. These data help us to better understand the plants of Belgium, their history and that of people who collected them. There are about 200,000 specimens in the Belgian Herbarium of the Botanic Garden Meise and we want to document them all! These data will then be made available online at www.botanicalcollections.be.

Keywords (Latin):
Belgium, Asteraceae, Alienae, Hortus Botanicus Meise, Botanica.