Five records of new and rare alien species to the flora of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

The article presents new records for five alien species previously unknown from the flora of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or very rare in the country – Chenopodium ficifolium (Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae s. l.), Acalypha indica, Euphorbia maculata (Euphorbiaceae), Gamochaeta pensylvanica (Gnaphalium pensylvanicum), and Verbesina encelioides (Asteraceae). Some of them have been recorded for the first time from the emirate Fujairah in north-eastern part of the UAE. Euphorbia maculata, which is rare in the country, was found only in “Salman Nursery” at Masafi town and in an irrigated garden near village Bithna, Chenopodium ficifolium was found in environs of Al Siji, in Wadi Siji on the road-dam and in “Al Phoenician Nursery” at Al Dibba town, Acalypha indica L. grows as weed in a plant market on the roadside in Al Bidya and in “The Green Nursery Sales Dibba” at Al Dibba town, they are new for the flora of Fujairah and UAE at all. Gamochaeta pensylvanica was found in a small quantity in a plant market and plant nursery in the Masafi friday market, and Verbesina encelioides – was found naturalized in Khor-Fakkan (Emirate of Sharjah) – both are very rare in the UAE. Species, synonyms, spatial distribution, habitat preferences, and species taxonomy with remarks on identification and differentiation from the most similar taxa occurring in the study area, as well as the list of localities are presented. The herbarium materials were transferred to the Herbarium of the Komarov Botanical Institute (LE, St. Petersburg, Russia), the duplicates – to the Herbarium of Altai State University (ALTB, Barnaul, Russia) and the Scientific Herbarium of Fujairah (FSH, Wadi Wurayah national park, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates).