Salsola kali |
Salsola collina |
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common saltwort, prickly Russian thistle, Russian thistle, saltwort, tumbleweed |
slender Russian-thistle, slender saltwort, tumbleweed |
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Habit | Herbs, 5–50 cm, papillose to hispid or, occasionally, glabrous. | Herbs, 10–100 cm, sparsely to densely papillose or hispid (rarely subglabrous). | ||||
Stems | erect to ascending, branched from base; branches arcuate or, occasionally, almost prostrate. |
erect, rarely ascending, branched above base (occasionally with slender branches near base); branches straight or slightly arcuate. |
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Leaves | alternate; blade linear, mostly 1–2 mm wide in herbarium specimens, fleshy, usually not swollen at base, apex ± acuminate into rather firm, 1–1.5(–2.2) mm spine. |
alternate; blade filiform to narrowly linear, 1–2 mm wide, less than 1 mm wide in herbarium specimens, usually not fleshy, sometimes semi-amplexicaul at base, apex with soft bristle (rarely subspinescent). |
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Inflorescences | interrupted at maturity, usually 1-flower per axil of bract; bracts alternate, not imbricate at maturity, reflexed, not distinctly swollen at base, apex narrowing into subulate spine. |
not interrupted, dense, 1-flowered (rarely 2–3-flowered), often also in axils of proximal leaves and branches, lower ones tightly enclosed in bracts and bracteoles, forming gall-like caducous balls at maturity; bracts alternate, strongly imbricate and appressed at maturity, base not distinctly swollen, apex acuminate into subulate spine. |
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Flowers | bracteoles free or becoming connate and adnate to perianth base; perianth segments with comparatively narrow wing or in lower flowers occasionally wingless (in S. kali subsp. pontica sometimes prominently winged), with weak or firm, acute apex, glabrous; fruiting perianth 4–6(–8) mm diam. 2n = 36. |
bracteoles becoming connate basally and adnate to perianth segments; perianth segments wingless or with narrow, erose wing at maturity, apex acute, weak and flaccid, glabrous; fruiting perianth ca. 2–5 mm diam. 2n = 18. |
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Salsola kali |
Salsola collina |
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Phenology | Fruiting summer–fall. | |||||
Habitat | Waste places, roadsides, railway areas, cultivated fields, disturbed natural and seminatural plant communities | |||||
Elevation | 100-2000 m (300-6600 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AL; CA; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; LA; MA; MD; ME; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OR; PA; RI; SC; TX; VA; NB; NF; NS; PE; QC; coastal areas of Europe; n Africa; sw Asia [Introduced and naturalized in other coastal regions]
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AZ; CO; IA; KS; KY; MI; MN; MO; MT; ND; NE; NH; NM; NY; OK; SD; UT; VT; ON; SK; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | Subspecies ca. 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Salsola collina was reported for the first time for North America from Minnesota by J. W. Moore (1938). It was collected in Kansas in 1923 (R. E. Brooks et al. 1976), but misidentified. Later it was discovered in Colorado, Iowa, and Missouri (V. L. Cory 1948; W. Schapaugh 1958; V. Muhlenbach 1979). Reports of S. collina for Arizona and New York are based on specimens cited by S. Rilke (1999). Its actual distribution seems to be underestimated due to the common and constant confusion with deviant forms of S. tragus. In the future, S. collina may be expected to occur within the major portion of the present range of S. tragus. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 400. | FNA vol. 4, p. 402. | ||||
Parent taxa | Chenopodiaceae > Salsola | Chenopodiaceae > Salsola | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 222. (1753) | Pallas: Ill. Pl., 34. (1803) | ||||
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