Nicodemia madagascariensis (Lam.) R. Parker (Family Scrophulariaceae), a casual alien plantnew to Italy

In this note the authors report the first case of naturalization of the Malagasy smoke bush within Italian territory. Alongwith a description of the abiotic and biotic characteristics of the invaded site, the current demographic and dynamictrends of the detected population by means of growth-ring analysis was also assessed. Moreover, an overview on the historyof its introduction in Europe is provided, underlining the key role played by the Mediterranean cities with respectto the acclimatization and spread of alien tropical and subtropical plants. Due to its low frequency under cultivation, theMalagasy smoke bush should not behave as an invader in the future; on the other hand, its ability to cover and smotherneighbouring trees in very short times, make its spread within the whole Mediterranean area worth regular monitoring.