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Salsola paulsenii
Barbwire Russian thistle is a low, bushy annual weed from Eurasia, growing as a spiny, branching clump in sandy, disturbed ground. Grow it only where it is wanted or controlled, since it spreads readily from seed.
Salsola paulsenii, synonym Kali paulsenii, is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common name barbwire Russian thistle. It is native to Eurasia and it is present in the American southwest as an introduced species and sometimes a weed in sandy, disturbed habitat types. It is an annual herb forming a brambly clump of intricately branched, prostrate to erect stems growing up to a meter long. The reddish stems are lined with yellow-green, thready, fleshy, or needlelike, spine-tipped leaves a few millimeters to three centimeters long. The inflorescence is an interrupted series of flowers, with one flower per leaf axil. The flower is surrounded by a disclike array of wide, winged sepals which are whitish at the tips and pinkish at the bases.
Salsola paulsenii is named for the Danish botanist and explorer Ove Paulsen.
Saltworts · Australian Tumbleweed · Slender Russian thistle · Russian thistle · Russian Thistle · Maltese salt tree · Salsola strobilifera · Prickly Russian thistle · Saltwort
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Salsola paulsenii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
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.
