Salsola soda
Salsola vermiculata
alkali Russian thistle, oppositeleaf Russian thistle
Damascus saltwort, Mediterranean saltwort, shrubby Russian thistle
erect or ascending, branched from base or nearly so;
branches straight or slightly arcuate (proximal ones sometimes almost prostrate).
erect, branched at woody base;
branches erect or ascending, virgate.
(especially proximal ones) mostly opposite;
blade linear, usually more than 1.5 mm wide in herbarium specimens, fleshy, distinctly swollen or ovate at base, apex mucronulate, not spinose.
alternate, bearing several reduced, ca. 1–4 mm leaves in their axils;
blade lanceolate, 5–8 × 0.5–1 mm, fleshy, expanding into ovate base (gibbous), apex obtuse, usually pubescent.
distinctly interrupted, 1-flowered;
bracts alternate or almost opposite, not imbricate, horizontally reflexed at maturity, swollen at base, abruptly narrowing into mucronulate nonspinose apex.
not interrupted, primary axis sometimes paniculately branched, 1-flowered (rarely 2–3-flowered);
bracts alternate, not imbricate, not reflexed, base gibbous, apex obtuse, usually densely pubescent.
bracteoles distinct, not adnate to perianth segments;
perianth segments wingless or with rudimental triangular tubercles at maturity, margins crenate or pectinate-ciliate apically, glabrous; fruiting perianth ca. 3–6(–7) mm diam. 2n = 18.
bracteoles distinct, free, perianth segments winged at maturity, apex conic, sparsely pubescent above wings (especially apically) sometimes becoming glabrous; fruiting perianth (including wings) 7–10(–12) mm diam. 2n =18.
Salsola soda
Salsola vermiculata
Salsola soda can be expected to spread in California, or to appear in inland or coastal saline habitats in southern states.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Salsola vermiculata is a locally persistent, escaped weed. It was reported naturalized near an abandoned experimental plot in San Luis Obispo County (possibly also in Kern County), where it was previously tested as a potential forage plant introduced from Syria in 1969. Salsola vermiculata sensu lato is designated as a federal noxious weed by the United States Department of Agriculture (R. G. Westbrooks 1993). It is so far the only perennial species of Salsola introduced to North America. Together with related Eurasian and African taxa, it should probably be segregated into a separate genus, Caroxylon Thunberg (N. N. Tzvelev 1993).
Salsola vermiculata sensu lato is a taxonomically complicated and morphologically polymorphic complex. North American material most probably belongs to S. damascena Botschantzev (V. P. Botschantzev 1975, 1975b). It fits the protologue and the type specimen deposited at LE, but additional study and comparison with other Eurasian “microspecies” are necessary. Some of these taxa remain little known and poorly understood taxonomically.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
