Salsola collinaPall.

slender Russian thistle

WFO wfo-0000436079 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Salsola collina, photographed by Oleg Kosterin
fig. a Oleg Kosterin, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-09-05 / obs. 156692165
Salsola collina, photographed by Dmitriy Bochkov
fig. b Dmitriy Bochkov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 153450868
Salsola collina, photographed by Dmitriy Bochkov
fig. c Dmitriy Bochkov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 152017530
Salsola collina, photographed by Craig Martin
fig. d Craig Martin, CC0 1.0 / obs. 89994096
Salsola collina, photographed by Alexander Dubynin
fig. e Alexander Dubynin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 73512533
Salsola collina, photographed by Dag Endresen
fig. f Dag Endresen, CC0 1.0 / obs. 24962652
Salsola collina, photographed by Dag Endresen
fig. g Dag Endresen, CC0 1.0 / obs. 25056026
Salsola collina, photographed by Dominic Gentilcore
fig. h Dominic Gentilcore, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 160007822

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 30 botanical countries

Regions where Salsola collina is native: Afghanistan, Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Inner Mongolia, Irkutsk, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Manchuria, Mongolia, Primorye, Qinghai, Tadzhikistan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tuva, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Pakistan, West Himalaya, South European Russia AfghanistanAltayAmurBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastChitaInner MongoliaIrkutskKazakhstanKhabarovskKirgizstanKrasnoyarskManchuriaMongoliaPrimoryeQinghaiTadzhikistanTibetTranscaucasusTuvaUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaPakistanWest HimalayaSouth European Russia Korea
Native distribution of Salsola collina, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Altay ALT
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Chita CTA
Inner Mongolia CHI
Irkutsk IRK
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Kirgizstan KGZ
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
Primorye PRM
Qinghai CHQ
Tadzhikistan TZK
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Tuva TVA
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
Pakistan PAK ASIA-TROPICAL
West Himalaya WHM
South European Russia RUS EUROPE

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 2 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Salsola chinensis Gand.
  • Salsola kali subsp. collina (Pall.) O.Bolòs & Vigo

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.