Definitions

Residence status:
Native taxon – evolved in Slovakia, or arrived there before the beginning of the Neolithic era or came to the region afterwards but through methods entirely independent of human activity. If the taxon is considered to be native at any locality within the territory of Slovakia, it is not included in the list of alien taxa (e.g. Telekia speciosa).
Alien taxon – arrived in Slovakia after the beginning of the Neolithic era, was introduced either directly by man or as a result of human activity and was recorded growing wild at least once. Hybrids with non-native taxa are considered to be alien because they would not occur without the presence of their alien parent. The hybrids that are cultivated and do not have any recorded locality outside of the cultivation area were excluded from the list. The hybrids of two archaeophytes or of an archaeophyte and a native taxon are considered to be archaeophytes, even if they were recently recorded because it is possible that the nothotaxon might have also hybridized in the past. The hybrids with one neophyte parent, regardless of the residence status of the other parent, are considered to be neophytes.
Residence time (sensu Pyšek et al. 2004):
Archaeophyte – alien taxon introduced to the territory from the beginning of Neolithic agriculture up to the year 1500.
Neophyte – alien taxon introduced to the territory after 1500.

Invasion status (sensu Richardson et al. 2000):
Casual taxon – alien taxon that may flourish and eventually reproduce in an area but does not form self-reproducing populations and therefore is dependent on repeated introductions.
Naturalized taxon – reproduces regularly, forming stable populations lasting for many life cycles.
Invasive taxon – naturalized alien spreading over a considerable area in a relatively short time.

The time of introduction – for the archaeophytes it refers to the era for which we have the first archaeological evidence of the taxon’s occurrence within the region, namely the Neolithic and Aeneolithic era (5000–1900 BC), Bronze Age (1900–700 BC), Iron Age (700–0 BC), Roman period and Migration period (0–565 AD) or Medieval period (565–1500 AD). For neophytes it refers to the year of its first reported occurrence in the region. The taxon might have occurred in the region before this date; however, we have no published record of its presence.
The year of the first known occurrence in the wild – (that is, at a place where the taxon was not deliberately planted) is included for the taxa that were introduced deliberately. For the taxa that were introduced unintentionally, the year of introduction is the same as the year of the first documented occurrence in the wild.

Introduction mode (main pathway of introduction of the taxa into the country):
Deliberate – imported purposefully by man.
Unintentional – as an incidental result of human activity.

The abundance in Slovakia is derived from the number of records in the CDF and ISTB and from other published and unpublished sources.

The distribution of the taxa (based on the phytogeographic division of Slovakia according to Futák 1980):
Beschidicum occidentale region includes the flysch-based mountains in the north-western region of the country.
Beschidicum orientale region includes the flysch-based mountains in the north-eastern region of the country.
Carpathicum orientale region is the small region in the north-eastern corner of the territory, which is part of the Eastern Carpathians.
Eucarpaticum region includes the highest mountain ranges in the north of Slovakia.
Eupannonicum region consists of lowlands in the south-eastern and south-western regions of the country.
Intercarpaticum region consists of the large basins between the mountain ranges of the Eucarpaticum.
Matricum region consists of lowlands in the centre of southern Slovakia.
Praecarpaticum region includes majority of the highlands.

Land use (type of invaded habitat):
Human-made – built-up areas, parks, gardens, orchards, agricultural land, all the types of ruderal vegetation and the other types of habitats that are seriously altered by human activity, e.g. the cooling ponds of thermal spas.
Semi-natural – cultural landscapes that are moderately affected by man, such as pastures, regularly mown grasslands and quarries.
Natural – forests and naturally treeless vegetation (alpine vegetation, wetlands, etc.).

The classification and nomenclature of the syntaxa are based on Jarolímek & Šibík (2008). For the taxa found in a wide spectrum of various syntaxa, only the most important syntaxa were stated.

Life forms (Raunkiær life-form classification):

Therophyte – annual plant, which completes its life-cycle rapidly under favourable conditions and survives the unfavourable cold or dry season in the form of seed.
Hemicryptophyte – perennial plant with buds located at or near the soil surface.
Chamaephyte – perennial plant with buds located on persistent shoots near the ground, no more than 25 cm above the soil surface.
Phanerophyte – projecting into the air on stems with resting buds more than 25 cm above soil level, e.g. trees and shrubs.
Geophyte – perennial plant with buds resting in dry ground.
Hydrophyte – resting by being submerged under water.

Origin – refers to the continents of which the taxon is considered to be native. Because some of the taxa have arisen through cultivation or hybridization, a cultivation category and hybrid category are also included.

References:
Futák J. (1980): Fytogeografické členenie [Phytogeographical classification]. – In: Mazúr E. (ed.), Atlas Slovenskej socialistickej republiky [Atlas of the Slovak Socialist Republic], p. 88, Slov. ústav geodézie a kartografie SAV, Bratislava.

Jarolímek I. & Šibík J. (eds) (2008): Diagnostic, constant and dominant species of the higher vegetation units of Slovakia. – Veda, Bratislava.

Pyšek P., Richardson D. M., Rejmánek M.,Webster G. L.,Williamson M. & Kirschner J. (2004): Alien plants in checklists and floras: towards better communication between taxonomists and ecologists. – Taxon 53: 131–143.