Caroxylon vermiculatum

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Caroxylon vermiculatum
SALSOLA VERMICULATA - AGUDA - IB-722 (Siscall).JPG
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Genus: Caroxylon
Species:
C. vermiculatum
Binomial name
Caroxylon vermiculatum
(L.) Akhani & Roalson [1]
Synonyms [1]
  • Chenopodium flavescens(Cav.) Schult.
  • Nitrosalsola hispanica(Botsch.) Theodorova
  • Nitrosalsola portilloi(Caball.) Theodorova
  • Nitrosalsola rodinii(Botsch.) Theodorova
  • Nitrosalsola vermiculata(L.) Theodorova
  • Salsola buxifoliaDum.Cours.
  • Salsola ericifoliaMasson ex Link
  • Salsola flavescensCav.
  • Salsola frankenioides(Caball.) Botsch.
  • Salsola hispanicaBotsch.
  • Salsola microphyllaCav.
  • Salsola portilloiCaball.
  • Salsola rodiniiBotsch.
  • Salsola tamariscifoliaLag.
  • Salsola vermiculataL.

Caroxylon vermiculatum, commonly known as Mediterranean saltwort, is a perennial plant in the family Amaranthaceae. It has many synonyms, including Salsola vermiculata and Nitrosalsola vermiculata. [1] It is native to arid and semi-arid regions of the Middle East, North Africa and southern Europe where it is used as a fodder plant for livestock.

Contents

Description

Caroxylon vermiculatum is a small, greyish, much-branched shrub ranging in height from 25 to 100 cm (10 to 40 in). The branches themselves branch repeatedly and are wiry and woody at the base. The leaves are tiny and scale-like, clasping the stem and covered with minute hairs. The inflorescence is a leafy spike with solitary flowers in the axils of the leaves. The flowers have persistent, pinkish, winged sepals and no petals and are about 10 mm (0.4 in) in diameter. [2]

Taxonomy

The species was first described, as Salsola vermiculata, in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum . Phylogenetic research led to the re-circumscription of the genus Salsola , and in 2007, the species was transferred to Caroxylon vermiculatum(L.) Akhani & Roalson. [3] In 2015, it was transferred to Nitrosalsola vermiculata(L.) Theodorova. [4] As of April 2022, the accepted name in Plants of the World Online is Caroxylon vermiculatum. [1]

Distribution and habitat

This plant is native to Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, as well as Egypt and Morocco. It is also native to southern Europe, including Italy, Spain and Portugal. Its natural habitat is semi-arid and arid grassland, and it has been introduced to Pakistan and to California to provide forage in arid locations. In California it has become a weed and is regarded as an invasive species. [5]

Ecology

Caroxylon vermiculatum is part of the climax community in the Syrian steppe where it grows alongside Artemisia herba-alba , Atriplex leucoclada and Stipa barbata . [6] It also grows on the Jordanian steppe along with Artemisia herba-alba and Achillea fragrantissima , but all three of these useful fodder species are becoming increasingly rare because of overgrazing. [7] Exclusion of livestock from an area produces a large increase in the biomass of these species.[ citation needed ] It has a high protein content and is of high value as a forage crop in arid areas. It is planted in the Middle East for grazing by cattle, sheep, goats and camels. [5]

Natural regeneration occurs in both spring and autumn, but plants germinating in autumn are more drought tolerant and more likely to become established. [8] Rainwater harvesting, in the form of contouring furrows that prevent run-off, increases the successful establishment and growth of C. vermiculatum. Planting this and other native species, such as Atriplex halimus , shows high potential for the improvement of the Badia rangelands in Syria. Prolonged drought sometimes caused the plants to shed their leaves.[ citation needed ]

In California, C. vermiculatum has been shown to be an alternate host for the plant viruses that cause curly top, a disease of sugar beet, tomatoes and cucurbits. [5]

Related Research Articles

Salsoloideae Subfamily of flowering plants

The Salsoloideae are a subfamily of the Amaranthaceae, formerly in family Chenopodiaceae.

Syrian Desert Desert in the Middle East

The Syrian Desert, also known as the Syrian steppe, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badia, is a region of desert, semi-desert and steppe covering 500,000 square kilometers of the Middle East, including parts of south-eastern Syria, northeastern Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia, and western Iraq. It accounts for 85% of the land area of Jordan and 55% of Syria. To the south it borders and merges into the Arabian Desert. The land is open, rocky or gravelly desert pavement, cut with occasional wadis.

<i>Halogeton</i> Genus of flowering plants

Halogeton is a plant genus of the family Amaranthaceae. The genus name, Halogeton, derives from the Greek words for "salt" and for "neighbor."

Shrub–steppe

Shrub-steppe is a type of low-rainfall natural grassland. While arid, shrub-steppes have sufficient moisture to support a cover of perennial grasses or shrubs, a feature which distinguishes them from deserts.

<i>Kali turgidum</i> Species of flowering plant in the amaranth family Amaranthaceae

Kali turgidum, commonly known as prickly saltwort or prickly glasswort, is an annual plant that grows in salty sandy coastal soils.

<i>Atriplex semibaccata</i> Species of plant

Atriplex semibaccata, commonly known as Australian saltbush, berry saltbush, or creeping saltbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a perennial herb native to Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales, but has been introduced into other states and to overseas countries. It flowers and fruits in spring, and propagates from seed when the fruit splits open. This species of saltbush is adapted to inconsistent rainfall, temperature and humidity extremes and to poor soil. It is used for rehabilitation, medicine, as a cover crop and for fodder. Its introduction to other countries has had an environmental and economic impact on them.

<i>Atriplex halimus</i> Species of flowering plant

Atriplex halimus is a species of fodder shrub in the family Amaranthaceae.

<i>Salsola</i> Genus of plants

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. 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".

<i>Atriplex nummularia</i> Species of plant

Atriplex nummularia is a species of saltbush from the family Amaranthaceae and is a large woody shrub known commonly as oldman saltbush. A. nummularia is native to Australia and occurs in each of the mainland states, thriving in arid and semi-arid inland regions.

<i>Kali tragus</i> Species of flowering plant

Kali tragus is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae. It is known by various common names such as prickly Russian thistle, windwitch, or common saltwort. It is widely known simply as tumbleweed because in many regions of the United States, it is the most common and most conspicuous plant species that produces tumbleweeds. Informally, it also is known as "'salsola", which was its generic name until 2007.

Morocco provides a refuge for a rich and diverse flora with about 4,200 taxa, of which 22% are endemic. The phytogeographic zones of Morocco comprise 8 zones: the Mediterranean zone, the Cedar zone (1000-2000m), the sub-Alpine zone (2,000-2,500m), the Alpine zone (2,500m+), the semi-desert scrub zone, the Reg, the sandy desert zone and the oases.

Salsola kali was the botanical name for a species of flowering plants in the amaranth family, whose subspecies have been recently reclassified as two separate species in the genus Kali:

<i>Kali</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

Kali is a genus of plants in the subfamily Salsoloideae in the family Amaranthaceae. Common names of various members of this genus include buckbush, rolypoly, tumbleweed for its wind-blown seed dispersal habit, and Tartar thistle and Russian thistle for its origins.

The wildlife of Syria is the flora and fauna of Syria, a country at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. Besides its coastline, the country has a coastal plain, mountain ranges in the west, a semi-arid steppe area in the centre occupying most of the country, and a desert area in the east. Each of these zones has its own characteristic animals and plants.

Caroxylon imbricatum, synonym Salsola imbricata, is a small species of shrub in the family Amaranthaceae. It grows in deserts and arid regions of north Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and southwestern Asia.

<i>Caroxylon aphyllum</i> Species of flowering plant

Caroxylon aphyllum is a small species of shrub in the family Amaranthaceae.

<i>Atriplex holocarpa</i> Species of flowering plant

Atriplex holocarpa is a low-growing species of Atriplex (saltbush) found throughout arid regions of Australia. A. holocarpa is commonly known as pop saltbush, because its carpals pop when stepped upon.

Southeastern Iberian shrubs and woodlands

The Southeastern Iberian shrubs and woodlands is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion in southwestern Europe. It lies southwestern coastal Spain, along the Mediterranean Sea.

<i>Caroxylon</i> Genus of Chenopodiaceae plants

Caroxylon is a genus of shrubby flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae, found in drier areas of the Old World, including southern Africa, Madagascar, northern Africa, Mediterranean islands of Europe, the Canary Islands, Socotra, Ukraine, Russia, western Asia, Central Asia, India, western and northern China, and Mongolia.

Salsola melitensis is an endemic vascular plant of 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. The genus name was published in 1753 in the Species Plantarum composed by Carl Linnaeus but was reclassified again by Akhani et al. in 2007.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Caroxylon vermiculatum AUT(L.) Akhani & Roalson". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  2. "Mediterranean saltwort (Salsola vermiculata)". Plantwise Knowledge Bank. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  3. Akhani, H., et al. (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), 931–56.
  4. Theodorova (Feodorova), T.A. 2015. New nomenclatural combinations in Nitrosalsola (Chenopodiaceae). Ukrayins'kyi Botanicnyi Zhurnal 72(5): 442–445. doi:10.15407/ukrbotj72.05.442 , p.444.
  5. 1 2 3 "Salsola vermiculata (Mediterranean saltwort)". Invasive Species Compendium. CABI. 15 May 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  6. Suttie, J.M.; Reynolds, Stephen G.; Batello, Caterina (2005). Grasslands of the World. FAO. p.  453. ISBN   978-92-5-105337-9.
  7. Al-Tabini1, Raed; Al-Khalidi, Khalid; Al-Shudiefat, Mustafa (2012). "Livestock, medicinal plants and rangeland viability in Jordan's Badia: through the lens of traditional and local knowledge". Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice. 2 (4): 4. doi: 10.1186/2041-7136-2-4 .
  8. Al-Satari, Yahya; Al Omary, Ayed; Mhawish, Yasser Mahmood; Al-Kabneh, Awad Khalaf; Khrist, Zein Suleiman; Al-Swa’ar, Malik Samih (2014). "Abundance of natural Regeneration of Atriplex halimus and Salsola vermiculata and productivity in the Jordanian Badia". Journal (Academy of Hospital Administration (India)). 29 (1): 9–18. ISSN   0970-9452.