Article

Megathyrsus maximus var. maximus is reported for the first time in Italy. This grass native to South-Saharan East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Madagascar, now widespread in vast areas including Mauritania, Mali, Egypt, Spain, Middle East, Pakistan, India, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Australia and the Americas from the southern United States to Argentina, has been found widely and with invasive character along almost all the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily. Data on its distribution in the island are given, in addition to some taxonomic considerations with reference to the correspondence of M. maximus var. pubiglumis with Panicum compressum (= Megathyrsus bivonanus).