The EPPO-Q-bank invasive plants database provides detailed species-level information on all plant species on the EU list of Union concern, associated with EU regulation 1143/2014. This includes fact sheets, look alike pages and DNA barcodes to facilitate identification during border inspection and verification of interceptions in support of the implementation of the EU regulation regarding invasive alien species.
The first interactive key built for Q-bank was to deal with contaminants (weeds) of pot plants imported into Europe. Some of these weeds show invasive behaviour and proper identification is essential to track accidental introductions rapidly. The identification of the weeds in pot plants proved to be difficult as floras (the commonly used identification tools) generally only cover a limited geographical area. Moreover, “traditional” floras seldom include non-native weedy plants. This means that identification of these weed species using floras is falling short and, for that reason, an inspection tool for identification of these plants had to be developed.
The 6 keys on invasive plant species currently available are:
- Weeds in imported pot plants in Europe
- Invasive terrestrial plants in Europe
- Invasive aquatic plants
- Seedlings of invasive plants
- Seeds of invasive plants
- Pennisetum cultivars