Salsola

Salsola
Salsola oppositifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Amaranthaceae
Subfamily:	Salsoloideae
Tribe:	Salsoleae
Genus:	Salsola L.
Synonyms
Caspia Galushko Darniella Maire & Weiller Eremochion Gilli Hypocylix Woł. Isgarum Raf. Kali Mill. Neocaspia Tzvelev Physandra Botsch.

Salsola is a genus of the subfamily Salsoloideae in the family Amaranthaceae. The genus sensu stricto is distributed in Australia, ^[1] central and southwestern Asia, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. ^[2] Common names of various members of this genus and related genera are saltwort (for their salt tolerance) and tumbleweed or roly-poly. The genus name Salsola is from the Latin salsus, meaning 'salty'. ^[3]

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. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Systematics

The genus name Salsola was first published in 1753 by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum . ^[6] 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. ^[2] Synonyms of Salsolasensu stricto are: DarniellaMaire & Weiller, FadeniaAellen & Townsend, NeocaspiaTzvelev and HypocylixWol..^{[ citation needed ]}

Salsola stocksii

Harvested Salsola soda

Plants of the World Online includes: ^[7]

1. Salsola acanthoclada Botsch.
2. Salsola africana (Brenan) Botsch.
3. Salsola algeriensis Botsch.
4. Salsola angusta Botsch.
5. Salsola australis R.Br.
6. Salsola austrotibetica Sukhor.
7. Salsola baranovii Iljin
8. Salsola basaltica (C.Brullo, Brullo, Gaskin, Giusso, Hrusa & Salmeri) C.Brullo & Brullo
9. Salsola brevifolia Desf.
10. Salsola chellalensis Botsch.
11. Salsola chinghaiensis A.J.Li
12. Salsola collina Pall.
13. Salsola cruciata L.Chevall. ex Batt. & Trab.
14. Salsola drummondii Ulbr.
15. Salsola euryphylla Botsch.
16. Salsola glomerata (Maire) Brullo
17. Salsola × gobicola Iljin
18. Salsola griffithii (Bunge) Freitag & Khani
19. Salsola gypsacea Botsch.
20. Salsola halimocnemis Botsch.
21. Salsola hartmannii Sukhor.
22. Salsola ikonnikovii Iljin
23. Salsola intramongolica H.C.Fu & Z.Y.Chu
24. Salsola jacquemontii Moq.
25. Salsola junatovii Botsch.
26. Salsola kali L.
27. Salsola komarovii Iljin
28. Salsola mairei Botsch.
29. Salsola masclansii G.Monts. & D.Gómez
30. Salsola melitensis Botsch.
31. Salsola monoptera Bunge
32. Salsola papillosa (Coss.) Willk.
33. Salsola paulsenii Litv.
34. Salsola pontica (Pall.) Iliin
35. Salsola praecox (Litv.) Litv.
36. Salsola praemontana Botsch.
37. Salsola ryanii Hrusa & Gaskin
38. Salsola sabrinae Mosyakin
39. Salsola sinkiangensis A.J.Li
40. Salsola squarrosa Steven ex Moq.
41. Salsola strobilifera (Benth.) Mosyakin
42. Salsola subglabra Botsch.
43. Salsola tamamschjanae Iljin
44. Salsola tamariscina Pall.
45. Salsola tragus L. (sometimes placed in Kali)
46. Salsola tunetana Brullo
47. Salsola turcica Yıld.
48. Salsola webbii Moq.
49. Salsola zaidamica Iljin
50. Salsola zygophylla Batt.

Excluded species: Many species formerly grouped in Salsola were excluded by Akhani et al. (2007). Some may now be classified in separate genera: ^[2]

• Afrosalsola ^[8]
  • Afrosalsola deschaseauxiana (Litard. & Maire) Akhani (syn. Salsola deschaseauxiana(Litard. & Maire)
  • Afrosalsola divaricata (Masson ex Link) Akhani (syn. Salsola divaricata(Masson ex Link)
• Caroxylon (for Salsola sect. Caroxylon)
  • Caroxylon imbricatum (Forssk.) Moq. (syn. Salsola imbricataForssk.)
  • Caroxylon vermiculatum (L.) Akhani & Roalson (syn. Salsola vermiculataL.)
• Kaviria (for Salsola sect. Belanthera)
• Turania (for Salsola sect. Sogdiana)
• Xylosalsola (for Salsola sect. Coccosalsola subsect. Arbuscula)

They are shrubby halophytic plants with opposite and alternate branches and leaves. They have a distinct leaf anatomy with a hypodermis and kranz-like cells that perform C₂ photosynthesis, a C₃-C₄ intermediate photosynthetic pathway. The species were formerly included in the genus Salsola , which was found to be polyphyletic. In 2024 Hossein Akhani et al. described the new genus Afrosalsola to include the two species.

Uses

Salsola komarovii is collected in the wild and cultivated in Asia. ^[9] In Namibia, where introduced Salsola species are called gannabos , they are valuable fodder plants. ^[10]

References

1. "Salsola australis R.Br. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science".
2. Akhani, Hossein; Edwards, Gerald; Roalson, Eric H. (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. Bibcode:2007IJPlS.168..931A. doi:10.1086/518263. JSTOR   10.1086/518263. S2CID   86789297.
3. Mosyakin, S. L. (2004). "Salsola" (concerning the genus sensu lato). Flora of North America. 4.
4. Zhu, Gelin; Mosyakin, Sergei L.; Clemants, Steven E. "Chenopodiaceae" (Salsola s. l. - Online, concerning the genus sensu lato). Flora of China. 5 (402).
5. Freitag, Helmut; Hedge, Ian C.; Jafri, Saiyad Masudal Hasan; Kothe-Heinrich, Gabriele; Omer, S.; Uotila, Pertti. "Chenopodiaceae" (Salsola s. l. - Online, concerning the genus sensu lato). Flora of Pakistan.
6. Carl von Linné (1753). "Species Plantarum" (First publication of genus). 1 (222).{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
7. Plants of the World Online: Salsola L. (retrieved 3 March 2024)
8. Akhani H., Abdullahi H. . y Rudov A. (2024). Afrosalsola (Amaranthaceae-Chenopodiaceae), an intermediate C3-C4 lineage from NW Africa and the Canary Islands, and some new combinations in African species of Caroxylon and Soda. Mediterranean Botany, 45(2), e94654. https://doi.org/10.5209/mbot.94654
9. Larkcom, Joy; Douglass, Elizabeth (1991). Oriental vegetables: the complete guide for garden and kitchen. London: Murray. p. 130. ISBN   0-7195-4781-4.
10. Rothauge, Axel (February 25, 2014). "Staying afloat during a drought". The Namibian . Archived from the original on March 2, 2014.