Provenances of naturalised plants in Australasia

In both Australia and New Zealand, numbers of naturalised flowering plant species have increased steadily since the start of European settlement, and this process shows no sign of abating. Plants native to Western Europe, the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East predominated during the mid‐nineteenth century, but in recent decades other geographical areas (notably the Western Hemisphere, Asia and Southern Africa) have become important sources of adventive plants. Today, the composition of ensembles of naturalised species more closely conforms to the diversity of physical environments in the host area. Species native to mediterranean‐type climates tend to dominate in Victoria, species from the Asian and American tropics are especially significant in Queensland, and species from cool temperate regions compose the bulk of the naturalised flora of south‐western New Zealand.