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 (for their salt tolerance) and tumbleweed or roly-poly. The genus name Salsola is from the Latin , meaning Template:Gloss.

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..

File:Haloxylon stocksii 1.jpg

Salsola stocksii

File:Salsola soda.jpg

Harvested Salsola soda

Plants of the World Online includes:

1. Salsola acanthoclada Template:Au
2. Salsola africana Template:Au
3. Salsola algeriensis Template:Au
4. Salsola angusta Template:Au
5. Salsola australis Template:Au
6. Salsola austrotibetica Template:Au
7. Salsola baranovii Template:Au
8. Salsola basaltica Template:Au
9. Salsola brevifolia Template:Au
10. Salsola chellalensis Template:Au
11. Salsola chinghaiensis Template:Au
12. Salsola collina Template:Au
13. Salsola cruciata Template:Au
14. Salsola drummondii Template:Au
15. Salsola euryphylla Template:Au
16. Salsola glomerata Template:Au
17. Salsola × gobicola Template:Au
18. Salsola griffithii Template:Au
19. Salsola gypsacea Template:Au
20. Salsola halimocnemis Template:Au
21. Salsola hartmannii Template:Au
22. Salsola ikonnikovii Template:Au
23. Salsola intramongolica Template:Au
24. Salsola jacquemontii Template:Au
25. Salsola junatovii Template:Au
26. Salsola kali Template:Au
27. Salsola komarovii Template:Au
28. Salsola mairei Template:Au
29. Salsola masclansii Template:Au
30. Salsola melitensis Template:Au
31. Salsola monoptera Template:Au
32. Salsola papillosa Template:Au
33. Salsola paulsenii Template:Au
34. Salsola pontica Template:Au
35. Salsola praecox Template:Au
36. Salsola praemontana Template:Au
37. Salsola ryanii Template:Au
38. Salsola sabrinae Template:Au
39. Salsola sinkiangensis Template:Au
40. Salsola squarrosa Template:Au
41. Salsola strobilifera Template:Au
42. Salsola subglabra Template:Au
43. Salsola tamamschjanae Template:Au
44. Salsola tamariscina Template:Au
45. Salsola tragus Template:Au (sometimes placed in Kali)
46. Salsola tunetana Template:Au
47. Salsola turcica Template:Au
48. Salsola webbii Template:Au
49. Salsola zaidamica Template:Au
50. Salsola zygophylla Template:Au

Excluded species: Many species formerly grouped in Salsola were excluded by Akhani et al. (2007). Some may now be classified in separate genera:

• Turania (for Salsola sect. Sogdiana)
• Xylosalsola (for Salsola sect. Coccosalsola subsect. Arbuscula)
• Caroxylon (for Salsola sect. Caroxylon)
  • Caroxylon imbricatum (Forssk.) Moq. (Syn. Salsola imbricata Forssk.)
  • Caroxylon vermiculatum (L.) Akhani & Roalson (Syn. Salsola vermiculata L.)
• Kaviria (for Salsola sect. Belanthera)

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.