NameThatPlant.net: Salsola tragus

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Caryophyllales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Salsola tragus FAMILY Chenopodiaceae Go to FSUS key

Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.

Read more about Russian Thistle at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Salsola tragus FAMILY Chenopodiaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Kali tragus ssp. tragus

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Salsola tragus

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 064-07-001?:

Salsola kali FAMILY Chenopodiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)

Salsola kali var. tenuifolia

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Salsola pestifer

COMMON NAME:
Russian Thistle, Tumbleweed

To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Salsola tragus, Russian Thistle, Tumbleweed

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_sape10_001_lvd

USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970 swus_page_139

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Salsola tragus FAMILY Chenopodiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Salsola tragus FAMILY Chenopodiaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Kali tragus ssp. tragus

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Salsola tragus

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 064-07-001?:
Salsola kali FAMILY Chenopodiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Salsola kali var. tenuifolia

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Salsola pestifer

3844

Forb
Annual

Habitat: Disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora

Non-native: Eurasia

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Invasive?

This plant may be causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:

Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2009

IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Leaves with a weak apical spine ("mucro")

LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate

FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Green
5 sepals
Petals absent
5 stamens
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Utricle

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!

"There are two kinds of misunderstanding. There is the misunderstanding of the man who misunderstands because he has not yet reached a stage of knowledge and of experience at which he is able to grasp the truth. There is a genuine inability to understand, an inability which is the inevitable result of lack of knowledge. When a man is in that state our duty is to do all that we can to explain things to him so that he will be able to grasp the knowledge which is being offered to him. But there is a failure to understand which comes from unwillingness to understand; there is a failure to see which comes from the refusal to see. A man can deliberately shut his mind to truth which he does not wish to see; he can be deliberately dense towards teaching which he does not wish to accept." — William Barclay

If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".

Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".