First records of casual occurrences of Chinese windmill palm Trachycarpus fortunei (Hook.) H. Wendl. in Austria

Abstract

I report here the first six casual records of the Chinese windmill palm Trachycarpus fortunei (Arecaceae, Magnoliopsida) in Austria (and eastern Central Europe). All records are located in cities and villages in the eastern warm lowlands, and in most cases, the escaped self-sown young specimens survived at least one winter. However, as all sites are located on horticulturally used public and private spaces, long-term survival was impossible. Given that the pronounced climate warmingtrend of the last two decades in Central Europe will most likely continue, it is probable that Trachycarpus fortunei will become more frequent in Austria (and beyond), populations will become more long-lived, and natural habitats will likely be colonized.