Common Saltwort vs Slender Russian-Thistle

Salsola kali compared with Salsola collina

Key Differences

• Common Saltwort is Least Concern while Slender Russian-Thistle is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Saltwort	Slender Russian-Thistle
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum same	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class same	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order same	Caryophyllales (Caryophyllales)	Caryophyllales (Caryophyllales)
Family same	Amaranthaceae	Amaranthaceae
Genus same	Salsola	Salsola
Species	Salsola kali	Salsola collina

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Saltwort and Slender Russian-Thistle share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Salsola.

Conservation Status

Common Saltwort

LC — Least Concern

Slender Russian-Thistle

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Saltwort	Slender Russian-Thistle
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Saltwort

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, flooded grasslands and savannas, and deserts and xeric shrublands within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa), Europe (6 countries), North America (Canada, Mexico, United States), and South America (4 countries).

Slender Russian-Thistle

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Found across Europe (11 countries) and North America (Canada, United States).

Common Saltwort

<em>Salsola kali</em>, common saltwort or prickly glasswort, is an annual herb in the family Amaranthaceae, with a broad native distribution spanning coastal and inland saline habitats across Africa, Europe, and Asia, and widely introduced in North and South America where it has become an invasive species in many regions. The plant typically inhabits sandy beaches, coastal dunes, saline inland steppes, disturbed ground, roadsides, and agricultural margins. It is highly salt-tolerant, accumulating sodium in its tissues, a trait that historically made it a source of soda ash used in glassmaking, giving rise to common names such as glasswort. Common saltwort produces small, succulent, spine-tipped leaves and inconspicuous flowers, and when dry the plant breaks off at the base and tumbles in the wind, dispersing seeds widely — a behavior that has given rise to the iconic image of the tumbleweed in North American popular culture. The species is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It provides food for birds and invertebrates in coastal habitats. In North America it has expanded significantly into disturbed arid habitats, where it is considered invasive. Biological traits such as average lifespan, body measurements, and dietary data remain poorly documented in standardized databases.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 5 countries:

🇧🇾 Belarus 🇨🇦 Canada 🇵🇱 Poland 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇺🇸 United States