Salsola kaliL.

Russian thistleclasswortkhakibushprickly glasswortprickly saltwortrolypolyrush-and-tumble weedrussian thistlerussian tumbleweedsaltwort

WFO wfo-0000435928 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Salsola kali, photographed by Christopher
fig. a Christopher, CC0 1.0 / 2022-06-10 / obs. 204917057
Salsola kali, photographed by Andrew Tree
fig. b Andrew Tree, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203394253
Salsola kali, photographed by Robert Webster
fig. c Robert Webster, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 201000525
Salsola kali, photographed by Annika Lindqvist
fig. d Annika Lindqvist, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204717144
Salsola kali, photographed by Bobby McCabe
fig. e Bobby McCabe, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 194532615
Salsola kali, photographed by Daryl Nolan
fig. f Daryl Nolan, CC0 1.0 / obs. 184948255
Salsola kali, photographed by Vincent Weber
fig. g Vincent Weber, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 178350234
Salsola kali, photographed by Patrick Hacker
fig. h Patrick Hacker, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 177601638

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 81 botanical countries

Regions where Salsola kali is native: Algeria, Azores, Canary Is., Egypt, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Altay, Buryatiya, China North-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Cyprus, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Irkutsk, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Lebanon-Syria, Manchuria, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Palestine, Qinghai, Tadzhikistan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Pakistan, West Himalaya, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Albania, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Netherlands, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AlgeriaEgyptLibyaMoroccoTunisiaAfghanistanAltayBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChina SoutheastChitaCyprusInner MongoliaIranIraqIrkutskKazakhstanKirgizstanKrasnoyarskLebanon-SyriaManchuriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusPalestineQinghaiTadzhikistanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanTuvaUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangPakistanWest HimalayaNew South WalesNorthern TerritoryQueenslandSouth AustraliaVictoriaWestern AustraliaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryIrelandItalyKritiKrymNetherlandsNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine AzoresCanary Is.MadeiraKoreaBalearesSardegna
Native distribution of Salsola kali, 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
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baleares BAL
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Ireland IRE
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Altay ALT
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
China Southeast CHS
Chita CTA
Cyprus CYP
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Irkutsk IRK
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Palestine PAL
Qinghai CHQ
Tadzhikistan TZK
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Tuva TVA
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Azores AZO
Canary Is. CNY
Egypt EGY
Libya LBY
Madeira MDR
Morocco MOR
Tunisia TUN
New South Wales NSW AUSTRALASIA
Northern Territory NTA
Queensland QLD
South Australia SOA
Victoria VIC
Western Australia WAU
Pakistan PAK ASIA-TROPICAL
West Himalaya WHM

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

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.

Flowering 562 in flower of 1,012 examined

Peak flowering in Oct. Each bar is the share of Salsola kali observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 562 of 1,012 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 35 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.

  • Corispermum pilosum Raf.
  • Kali australis (R.Br.) Akhani & Roalson
  • Kali soda Moench
  • Salsola acicularis Salisb.
  • Salsola aptera Iljin
  • Salsola australis R.Br.
  • Salsola australis var. strobilifera (Benth.) Domin
  • Salsola brachypteris Moq.
  • Salsola caroliniana Walter
  • Salsola decumbens Lam.
  • Salsola dichracantha Kitag.
  • Salsola iberica (Sennen & Pau) Botsch. ex Czerep.
  • Salsola kali f. hirsuta Hornem.
  • Salsola kali subsp. austroafricana Aellen
  • Salsola kali subsp. iberica (Sennen & Pau) Rilke
  • Salsola kali subsp. kali
  • Salsola kali var. angustifolia Fenzl
  • Salsola kali var. brachypteris (Moq.) Benth.
  • Salsola kali var. glabra Forssk.
  • Salsola kali var. hispida Forssk.
  • Salsola kali var. hispida-polygama Forssk.
  • Salsola kali var. kali
  • Salsola kali var. leptophylla Benth.
  • Salsola kali var. pseudotragus Beck

and 11 more.

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.