Salsola australis

Russian thistle

Family: Chenopodiaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Russian thistle is a naturalized annual found in California's Central Valley, Central Western, Southern Coastal, and Desert regions, occurring in disturbed places, road banks, open slopes, railroad tracks, and shorelines at elevations below 700 meters. Flowering from March to January, this plant produces small, inconspicuous flowers with soft, translucent sepals. Growing up to 2 meters tall with brittle stems that are blue-glaucous to green and occasionally red-striped, it forms a branched, open structure. Its leaves vary from opposite to alternate, featuring sharp-pointed or spiny tips and broad, translucent margins that become wider at the base. The distinctive fruit develops wings that are opaque with few dark veins, measuring 4.8 to 7.9 millimeters in diameter.

Habitat: Disturbed places, road banks, open slopes, railroad tracks, shorelines

Bloom period: Mar-Jan

Elevation: < 700 m

Bioregions: GV, CW, SCo, D (rare DMoj)

California counties: Kern, Ventura, Riverside, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Orange, Merced, Monterey, Fresno, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Sonoma, San Joaquin, Madera, Tulare, San Luis Obispo, San Benito, San Bernardino, Colusa, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Imperial, Kings, Alameda, Butte, Plumas

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.