Salsola

Salsola is a genus of herbs, subshrubs, shrubs, and small trees in the family Chenopodiaceae, native to Africa, Asia, and Europe. Plants in this genus typically grow on flat, often dry and/or somewhat saline soils, with some species in saltmarshes. A few species are tumbleweeds. Recent genetic studies have however shown that the genus as traditionally circumscribed is paraphyletic, and many species are likely to be transferred to other genera in the future.

Common names of various members of this genus include tumbleweed, for its wind-blown seed dispersal habit; saltwort, for its salt tolerance; and Tartar thistle and Russian thistle for its origins, although it is not a thistle.

Uses

The leaves and shoots of many species are edible, especially when young and tender, and some are grown as vegetables, often used for salads, sushi, or as a garnish. The most commonly eaten European species is Salsola soda known in Italy as Barba di Frate or Agretti. In Japan, S. komarovii is a crop of moderate importance, known locally as okahijiki (literally "land hijiki").

The seeds are also edible, although difficult to collect in quantity, and are sometimes ground into flour.

Salsola species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including The Nutmeg and the Coleophora case-bearers C. klimeschiella, C. parthenica, C. poeciliella (recorded on S. oppositifolia) and C. salsolella (feeds exclusively on S. vermiculata).

Invasive species

] Several species, but most notably the central Asian S. tragus, are invasive outside their native range. They have become particularly abundant in parts of North America, where they are listed as noxious weeds by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The salt-tolerant genus was first reported in the United States around 1877 in Bon Homme County, South Dakota, apparently transported as a stowaway in flax seed imported by Ukrainian farmers. South Dakota proved too harsh and dry for growing flax, but, by 1900, Salsola had colonized as far west as the Pacific Coast. It was also actively introduced by the U.S.D.A., under the impression that cattle might be induced to eat it in hard times during droughts. Palatability of the young shoots is considered to be fair. Cattle, sheep, and horses will eat it, if nothing better is available. Small rodents and Pronghorn also graze on the young shoots. Salsola thrives wherever land use has disturbed the soil. It can be seen in Death Valley, California, and in Colorado at elevations of 8500 feet (2600 m).

Tumbleweeds

Several annual species form tumbleweeds: after the plant dries it breaks away from its taproot and is driven by the wind as a light, rolling mass, scattering seeds far and wide. The seeds are produced in large numbers and do not have a protective coating or food reserves for the coiled plant embryos. The deep, ineradicable taproot remains in the ground and survives to grow again the following season. Salsola species with this habit include Salsola iberica and Salsola tragus.

Salsola tragus has naturalized to the point where it is regarded by many American people as native, changing the North American Great Plains plant community forever. It is controlled with mass applications of herbicides. Tumbleweeds of this species are such a common symbol in Westerns, where they are used to indicate an abandoned area, that they are generally associated with the American Old West and Western films, despite the species' Ukrainian origin.

In science and media

A Belgian group of researchers has recently found a molecular compound on the Namibian Salsola tubercultiformis shrub, which seems to have an anti-inflammatory effect equivalent to Dexamethasone, without having the same type of side-effects commonly associated with Dexamethasone and Cortisone treatments. This compound, so far only known as compound A, holds some promise as basis for the development of treatments for rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune conditions

NASA purchased a number of tumbleweeds to study their movement during the development of the Mars Tumbleweed rover. In film and television shows, a tumbleweed blowing across a scene can be used to indicate a deserted location or to emphasize an awkward silence.

A tumbleweed, or "Tartar thistle," serves as a metaphor and introduction to the story of Hadji Murat in Tolstoy's Hadji Murat.

List of species

More than 100 species have been proposed by botanists as belonging to Salsola. A partial listing of these species is given below. As of 2007, only six of these species (S. collini Pallas, S. kali L., S. paulsenii Litv., S. soda L., S. tragus L., and S. vermiculata L.) are listed as "reviewed" by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Translation

The word "Salsola" occurs as such in the following languages: English, Catalan, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese.

Translation(s) in other languages: Danish: Sodaurt, German: Salzkräuter, Persian: علف شور, Upper Sorbian: Selenc, Georgian: მლაშობურა, Lithuanian: Druskė, Macedonian: Ветроган, Dutch: Loogkruid, Japanese: タンブル・ウィード, Polish: Solanka (roślina), Russian: Солянка (растение), Swedish: Sodaörter.