''Kali'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of plants in the subfamily Salsoloideae in the family

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it ...

Common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s of various members of this genus include buckbush, rolypoly,

tumbleweed A tumbleweed is a structural part of the above-ground anatomy of a number of species of plants. It is a diaspore that, once mature and dry, detaches from its root or stem and rolls due to the force of the wind. In most such species, the tumble ...

for its wind-blown seed dispersal habit, and Tartar thistle and

Russian thistle Russian thistle is a common name that can refer to: * ''Echinops exaltatus'', also known as ''Russian globe thistle'', is a globe thistle native to Eurasia and an invasive species in Eastern Canada and Northern United States. * ''Kali tragus'', fo ...

for its origins. These species were previously part of the genus '' Salsola''.

Systematics

The type species of the genus is ''

Kali turgidum ''Kali turgidum'' (synonym ''Salsola kali'' subsp. ''kali''), commonly known as prickly saltwort or prickly glasswort, is an annual plant that grows in salty sandy coastal soils. Its distributional range is in Europe along the shores of Baltic ...

''. The genus consists of ca. 23 species: * '' Kali australe'' (R.Br.) Akhani & E.H.Roalson (syn. ''Salsola kali'' R.Br.) * '' Kali basalticum'' C.Brullo, Brullo, Gaskin, Giusso, Hrusa & Salmeri (2015): endemic to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Mount Etna Mount Etna, or simply Etna ( it, Etna or ; scn, Muncibbeḍḍu or ; la, Aetna; grc, Αἴτνα and ), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina a ...

. * '' Kali collinum'' (Pall.) Akhani & E.H.Roalson (''Salsola collina'' Pall.) * '' Kali dodecanesicum'' C.Brullo, Brullo, Giusso, Ilardi (2015): endemic on the Greek islands

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

, Kos and

Nisyros Nisyros also spelled Nisiros ( el, Νίσυρος, Nísiros) is a volcanic Greek island and municipality located in the Aegean Sea. It is part of the Dodecanese group of islands, situated between the islands of Kos and Tilos. Its shape is appro ...

. * '' Kali gobicola'' (Iljin) Brullo & Hrusa (2015), (Syn.: ''Salsola gobicola'' Iljin) * '' Kali griffithii'' (Bunge) Akhani & E.H.Roalson (''Noaea griffithii'' Bunge) * ''

Kali jacquemontii Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tradit ...

'' (Moq.) Akhani & E.H.Roalson (''Salsola jacquemontii'' Moq.) * ''

Kali ikonnikovii Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tradit ...

'' (Iljin) Akhani & E.H.Roalson (''Salsola ikonnikovii'' Iljin) * ''

Kali komarovii ''Salsola komarovii'' is an annual plant native to China, Korea, Japan and eastern Russia. It grows to a height of . It is cultivated as a vegetable; the leaves and young shoots are eaten. In Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or ...

'' (Iljin) Akhani & E.H.Roalson (''Salsola komarovii'' Iljin) * ''

Kali macrophyllum Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In t ...

'' (R.Br.) Galasso & Bartolucci (2014), (Syn.: ''Salsola macrophylla'' R.Br, ''Salsola tragus'' L. subsp. ''pontica'' (Pall.) Rilke)Galasso & Bartolucci: Informatore Botanico Italiano 46(1): 83. 2014. / ''Notula: 2070 (Kali macrophyllum, comb. nov.).'' In: Notulae alla checklist della flora vascolare italiana: 17 (2027-2070). * ''

Kali monopterum Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In t ...

'' (Bunge) Lomon. (2012), (Syn.: ''Salsola monoptera'' Bunge) * ''

Kali nepalensis Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tradit ...

'' (Grubov) Brullo, Giusso & Hrusa (2015), (Syn.: ''Salsola nepalensis'' Grubov) * ''

Kali paulsenii ''Kali paulsenii''Hossein Akhani, Gerald Edwards & Eric H. Roalson: ''Diversification Of The Old World Salsoleae S.L. (Chenopodiaceae): Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis Of Nuclear And Chloroplast Data Sets And A Revised Classification'', in: ''Int ...

'' (Litv.) Akhani & E.H.Roalson (''Salsola paulsenii'' Litv.) * ''

Kali pellucidum Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In t ...

'' (Litv.) Brullo, Giusso & Hrusa (2015), (Syn.: ''Salsola pellucida'' Litv.) * ''

Kali praecox Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tradi ...

'' (Litv.) Sukhor. (2011), (Syn.: ''Salsola praecox'' (Litv.) Iljin) * ''

Kali rosaceum Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tradi ...

'' (L.) Moench * '' Kali sinkiangense'' (A.J.Li) Brullo, Giusso & Hrusa (2015), (Syn.:''Salsola sinkiangensis'' A.J.Li) * '' Kali ryanii'' (Hrusa & Gaskin) Brullo & Hrusa (2015), (Syn.:''Salsola ryanii'' Hrusa & Gaskin) * '' Kali tamamschjanae'' (Iljin) Akhani & E.H.Roalson (''Salsola tamamschjanae'' Iljin) * '' Kali tamariscinum'' (Pall.) Akhani & E.H.Roalson (''Salsola tamariscina'' Pall.) * ''

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 State ...

'' (L.) Scop. (''Salsola tragus'' L., ''Salsola kali'' ssp. ''tragus'') * ''

'' (Dumort.) Guterm. (''Kali soda'' Moench, ''Salsola kali'' L. ssp. ''kali'') * '' Kali zaidamicum'' (Iljin) Akhani & E.H.Roalson (''Salsola zaidamica'' Iljin) In 2014, Mosyakin et al. proposed to conserve ''Salsola kali'' (= ''Kali turgidum'') as nomenclatoral type for the genus '' Salsola''. If the proposal will be accepted, all species of genus ''Kali'' would belong to ''Salsola'' again. The General Committee of the XIX

International Botanical Congress International Botanical Congress (IBC) is an international meeting of botanists in all scientific fields, authorized by the International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies (IABMS) and held every six years, with the location rotat ...

approved Mosyakin et al.'s proposal, rendering the species related to ''Salsola kali'' as constituting the genus ''Salsola'', while those related to '' Salsola soda'' should be transferred to another genus.

Invasive species

Several species, most notably the central Asian ''

'', are

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

outside their native range. They have encroached into parts of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, where they are listed as

noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or liv ...

s by the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

. The salt-tolerant genus was first reported in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

around 1877 in

Bon Homme County, South Dakota Bon Homme County ( ; french: Comté de bon homme) is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,003. Its county seat is Tyndall. History Bon Homme County was created in 1862. "Bon Homme" was first u ...

, apparently transported as a stowaway in

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

seed exported by

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

farmers. South Dakota proved too harsh and dry for growing flax, however, and by 1900 ''Kali'' had colonized as far west as the

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

. It was also actively introduced by the USDA as experimental food for

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

that could be grown in hard times during droughts. Palatability of the young shoots is considered to be fair. Cattle,

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

, and

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s eat it if nothing better is available. Small

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

s and pronghorn also graze on the young shoots. ''Kali'' thrives wherever land use has disturbed the

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

. It can be seen in Death Valley, California, and in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

at elevations of 8500 feet (2600 m).

Gallery

Salsola komarovii Iljin Aomori Japan 20080616.JPG, ''

'' Salsola kali flowers.jpg, ''

'' Salsola tragus.jpg, ''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q292351 Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae genera Halophytes Tumbleweeds Barilla plants Taxa named by Philip Miller