912204 Heracleum persicum Desf. ex Fisch.
Distribution
Northern Fennoscandia: Persistent (Adventive)
Shrub Tundra: Persistent (Adventive)
Bordering boreal or alpine areas: Persistent (Adventive)
- Fisch. in Fisch., C.A.Mey. & Avé-Lall., Index Sem. Hort. Petrop. 7: 50 (1841). Described from Iran.
- Heracleum laciniatum auct., non Hornem., Hort. Bot. Hafn. 1: 279 (1813).
Geography: Asian (W-C): ICE* NOR*.
Notes: As adventive in northern Scandinavia, this very tall, weedy, and aggressively expanding Heracleum is popularly (or unpopularly) named the "Tromsø Palm". It has been a mystery. Several affinities have been proposed and rejected: H. sphondylium s. str., H. mantegazzianum, and H. persicum. The latest studies revive the H. persicum hypothesis (Fröberg 2010). It was introduced from somewhere in Caucasus or west-central Asia to England in the mid 19th century and very shortly afterwards from there to Finnmark in northern Norway (Fremstad and Elven 2006 summarize the history). It became established and is now a rapidly expanding and medically harmful weed in most parts of central and northern Norway, including the arctic parts, and is currently expanding also in southern Norway, other parts of Fennoscandia, in Scotland (Fremstad and Elven 2006), and in Iceland including the arctic parts (observed 2010 in arctic Olafsfjördur). The documented mid 19th century introduction to Europe makes the often applied name H. "laciniatum" inacceptable. This name was based on some (now unknown) plant grown in the Copenhagen Botanical Garden 30-40 years before the first known introduction of the "Tromsø Palm" to Europe.
Higher Taxa
- Heracleum [9122,genus]