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Salsola melitensis
Salsola melitensis, commonly known as Maltese salt tree, is a species of vascular plant that is endemic to the Maltese archipelago. Its generic name is derived from the Latin word “salsus” which means salty, attributing to the salt tolerant nature of the species within this genus.
Given that its seeds are winged, minuscule and therefore easily transported by wind, S. melitensis is known to colonise sea-side cliffs where it can avoid anthropogenic pressure; the plant is historically reported to also grow on slanting walls in fortifications in many parts of Malta, Gozo and Comino, and is reported to grow in the fortifications of the Citadel and Xagħra. In 1927, Borg reported S. melitensis (under the name of S. vermiculata) as being rare in Malta and occurring in Marsaxlokk, Birżebbuġa, and seaside cliffs in Dingli and Baħrija. In 2020, Brullo et al. reported that S. melitensis (= D. melitensis) occurs in so-called permasigmeta and geopermasigmeta habitats composing Suaedo verae-Darnellio melitensis communities on dry marly-clayey outcrops near the sea that allow for salty/nitrophilous environments. The plant is reported as being very resilient to harsh abiotic conditions, including lack of water, strong winds, sea spray and very little soil. Brullo et al.
The Maltese salt tree is a rather unknown plant outside of Malta, and virtually no research on its biology or biochemistry has been done on it internationally. It is not within the inventory of plants of the Seed Information Database of the KEW Royal Botanical Gardens, nor is it listed in the GENESYS-PGR accession browser of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, the ENSCONET accession browser of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies, or the World Information and Early Warning System (WIEWS) accession browser of the United Nations. Nevertheless, the plant was used in olden days as a source of potash, possibly as a cleaning agent as it may have been used in conjunction with olive oil for the creation of rudimentary soap. Salsola soda is consumed as a vegetable in various parts of Italy (known as “barba del frate,” “agretti,” “rospici,” “liscari,” etc.) and Spain (known as “barilla.”) The herbaceous plantlet, like the herbaceous forms of Salsola spp.
Saltworts · Australian Tumbleweed · Slender Russian thistle · Russian thistle · Russian Thistle · Barbwire Russian thistle · Salsola strobilifera · Prickly Russian thistle · Saltwort
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Salsola melitensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
