2. Zinnia violacea Cav. (syn.: Z. elegans Jacq.) (S and C-Am.) – An exceptional and ephemeral garden escape. A single plant was recorded on a gravelly bank of river Maas in Lanaken (Neerharen) in 2011 (Hochter Bampd; see also http://waarnemingen.be/waarneming/view/56644278). In 2015 also seen on ground heaps by a canal in Merendree, along with Cosmos sulphureus and Tithonia rotundifolia.
This species is well-known in horticulture as Zinnia elegans but the validly published binomial Z. violacea predates the former and therefore has priority.
Taxonomic name: