HemerochoryHemerochory (Ancient Greek ἥμερος, hemeros: 'tame, ennobled, cultivated, cultivated' and Greek χωρίς choris: separate, isolated) is the distribution of cultivated plants or their seeds and cuttings, consciously or unconsciously, by humans into an area that they could not colonize through their natural mechanisms of spread, but are able to maintain themselves without specific human help in their new habitat. Hemerochory is one of the main propagation mechanisms of a plant.
Neophyte (botany)In botany, a neophyte (from Greek νέος (néos) "new" and φυτόν (phutón) "plant") is a plant species which is not native to a geographical region and was introduced in recent history. Non-native plants that are long-established in an area are called archaeophytes. In Britain, neophytes are defined more specifically as plant species that were introduced after 1492, when Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World and the Columbian Exchange began. The terminology of the invasion biology is very uneven.
Escaped plantEscaped plants are cultivated plants, usually garden plants, that are not originally native to an area, and due to their dispersal strategies, have escaped from cultivation and have settled in the wild and bred there, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Escaped plants are purposefully introduced plants that have naturalized in the wild and can develop into invasive plants, the settlement of which is to be assessed as problematic. Other commonly used terms include escaped garden plant, garden escapee, escaped ornamental or garden refugee.
Introduced speciesAn introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there by human activity, directly or indirectly, and either deliberately or accidentally. Non-native species can have various effects on the local ecosystem. Introduced species that become established and spread beyond the place of introduction are considered naturalized.