Salsola
Salsola is a genus of the subfamily Salsoloideae in the family Amaranthaceae. The genus sensu stricto is distributed in Australia, central and southwestern Asia, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. Common names of various members of this genus and related genera are saltwort and tumbleweed or roly-poly. The genus name Salsola is from the Latin salsus, meaning.Description
The species of Salsola are mostly subshrubs, shrubs, small trees, and rarely annuals. The leaves are mostly alternate, rarely opposite, simple, and entire. The bisexual flowers have five tepals and five stamens. The pistil ends in two stigmata. The fruit is spherical with a spiral embryo and no perisperm.Systematics
The genus name Salsola was first published in 1753 by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum. The type species is Salsola soda L.
The genus Salsola belongs to the tribe Salsoleae s.s. of the subfamily Salsoloideae in the family Amaranthaceae. The genus was recircumscribed in 2007 based on molecular phylogenetic research, greatly reducing the number of species. Synonyms of Salsola ''sensu stricto are: Darniella Maire & Weiller, Fadenia Aellen & Townsend, Neocaspia Tzvelev and Hypocylix Wol..
Plants of the World Online includes:
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Salsola acanthoclada Salsola africana Salsola algeriensis Salsola angusta Salsola australis Salsola austrotibetica Salsola baranovii Salsola basaltica Salsola brevifolia Salsola chellalensis Salsola chinghaiensis Salsola collina Salsola cruciata Salsola drummondii Salsola euryphylla Salsola glomerata Salsola × gobicola Salsola griffithii Salsola gypsacea Salsola halimocnemis Salsola hartmannii Salsola ikonnikovii Salsola intramongolica Salsola jacquemontii Salsola junatovii Salsola kali Salsola komarovii Salsola mairei Salsola masclansii Salsola melitensis Salsola monoptera Salsola papillosa Salsola paulsenii Salsola pontica Salsola praecox Salsola praemontana Salsola ryanii Salsola sabrinae Salsola sinkiangensis Salsola squarrosa Salsola strobilifera Salsola subglabra Salsola tamamschjanae Salsola tamariscina Salsola tragus Salsola tunetana Salsola turcica Salsola webbii Salsola zaidamica Salsola zygophylla Excluded species: Many species formerly grouped in Salsola were excluded by Akhani et al.. Some may now be classified in separate genera:
Afrosalsola*Afrosalsola deschaseauxiana *Afrosalsola divaricata Caroxylon * Caroxylon imbricatum Moq. * Caroxylon vermiculatum Akhani & Roalson Kaviria Turania Xylosalsola They are shrubby halophytic plants with opposite and alternate branches and leaves. They have a distinct leaf anatomy with a hypodermis and kranz-like cells that perform C2 photosynthesis, a C3-C4 intermediate photosynthetic pathway. The species were formerly included in the genus Salsola, which was found to be polyphyletic. In 2024 Hossein Akhani et al. described the new genus Afrosalsola'' to include the two species.Uses
Salsola komarovii is collected in the wild and cultivated in Asia. In Namibia, where introduced Salsola species are called gannabos, they are valuable fodder plants.