Long-established and new residents

Many species in Central European cultivated land originally come from the Fertile Crescent region and Southern Europe. These are often ’weeds’ that have migrated to Europe with cultivated plants in the course of the spread of agriculture. They mainly colonise habitats here that have been shaped by humans. Examples include the corn poppy and the cornflower, which were not originally native to Austria but are now part of the typical flora. Feral useful plants such as woad are also among these ’archaeophytes’, i.e. plants that immigrated a long time ago and are now considered native.

In contrast to archaeophytes, ’neophytes’ are species that only ’recently’ immigrated after 1492. With the discovery of America and the opening up of new trade routes, more and more plants were transported around the globe and colonised new places. Some of these neophytes were introduced to Europe by botanical gardens as ornamental plants. Some of them escaped from cultivation and are now causing problems as ‘invasive’ species, as they proliferate and displace native species. Examples include the tree of heaven and the Canadian goldenrod. In the meantime, certain ’invasive’ species such as Himalayan balsam may no longer be cultivated in botanical gardens in order to prevent their unintentional spread.