Salsola Explained

Salsola is a genus of the subfamily Salsoloideae in the family Amaranthaceae. The genus sensu stricto is distributed in central and southwestern Asia, North Africa, and the Mediterranean.^[1] A common name of various members of this genus and related genera is saltwort, for their salt tolerance. The genus name Salsola is from the Latin salsus, meaning "salty".

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.^{[2] [3] [4]}

Systematics

The genus name Salsola was first published in 1753 by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum.^[5] 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.^[1] Synonyms of Salsola sensu stricto are: Darniella Maire & Weiller, Fadenia Aellen & Townsend, Neocaspia Tzvelev and Hypocylix Wol..

Plants of the World Online includes:^[6]

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

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

The leaves and shoots of S. soda, known in Italy as barba di frate or agretti, are cooked and used as vegetables. The species is also used for the production of potash.^[7] In Namibia, where the plant is called gannabos, it is a valuable fodder plant.^[8]

Notes and References

1. Hossein. Akhani. Gerald. Edwards. Eric H.. Roalson. 2007 . Diversification of the old world Salsoleae s.l. (Chenopodiaceae): molecular phylogenetic analysis of nuclear and chloroplast data sets and a revised classification . International Journal of Plant Sciences . 168 . 6. 931–956 . 10.1086/518263. 10.1086/518263. 86789297.
2. Mosyakin. S. L.. Salsola. Flora of North America. 4. 2004. concerning the genus sensu lato.
3. Gelin. Zhu. Sergei L.. Mosyakin. Steven E.. Clemants. Chenopodiaceae. Flora of China. 5. 402. Salsola s. l. - Online, concerning the genus sensu lato.
4. Helmut. Freitag. Ian C.. Hedge. Saiyad Masudal Hasan. Jafri. Gabriele. Kothe-Heinrich. S.. Omer. Pertti. Uotila. Chenopodiaceae. Flora of Pakistan. Salsola s. l. - Online, concerning the genus sensu lato.
5. Species Plantarum. Carl von Linné. 1. 1753. 222. First publication of genus.
6. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30012872-2 Plants of the World Online: Salsola L. (retrieved 3 March 2024)
7. Web site: Salsola soda. Plants for a Future. November 20, 2020.
8. News: Staying afloat during a drought. Rothauge. Axel. February 25, 2014. The Namibian. https://web.archive.org/web/20140302053258/http://www.namibian.com.na/indexx.php?id=9793&page_type=story_detail&category_id=1. March 2, 2014. dead.