California Invasive Plant Council

Salsola tragus

Synonyms: Salsola australis, S. iberica, S. kali var. tenuifolia, S. kali ssp. ruthenica, S. kali ssp. tenuifolia, S. kali ssp. tragus, S. pestifera, S. ruthenica.

Common names: Russian thistle; common saltwort; prickly Russian thistle; Russian tumbleweed; tumbleweed; tumbling weed; windwitch; witchweed; prickly glasswort

Salsola tragus (Russian-thistle) is a large, bushy summer annual (family Chenopodiaceae). It can be found throughout California, including in agricultural areas, desert, roadsides and other disturbed areas. Russian-thistle can impede traffic, create fire hazards, and is a host of the beet leaf-hopper, an agricultural insect pest.

Cal-IPC Rating: Limited

CDFA Rating: C*

Cal-IPC Assessment

Plant Assessment Form - Information gathered by Cal-IPC on the impacts, rate of spread, and distribution of invasive plants in California. Does not include management information.

Special Reports

Weed Management Notes

• Management Notes - Information on management techniques and effectiveness from the University of California Cooperative Extension’s Weed Research & Information Center.

Cal-IPC Newsletter Articles

• Weed biological control agents approved for California. Pitcairn, Michael J.; Smith, Lincoln; Moran, Patrick. Vol 22, Issue 1
• Tackling invasive plants on California Sept. of Fish & Game lands. O'Rourke, Brianne; Horenstein, Julie. Vol 17, Issue 1
• Killing the beast: A cooperative approach for control of Arundo donax in the Santa Ana River watershed. Stein, Eric D.; Vartanian, Valerie. Vol 05, Issue 3

Cal-IPC Symposium Presentations

Presentations are linked where available. Where a presentation is not available, find more information by reading the abstract in the Cal-IPC Symposia Archive.

• The sky is not the limit – controlling invasive plants with survey and spray drones. Takekawa, John; Edmunds, Tim; Reynolds, Bill; Potter, Chris; Chappell, Steven (2020)
• Recent research on invasive weeds at the European Biological Control Laboratory (EBCL). Smith, Lincoln; Bon, Marie-Claude; Desurmont, Gaylord; Kashefi, Javid; Sforza, René; Tannières, Mélanie; Cristofaro, Massimo; Marini, Francesca; Goolsby, John; Rector, Brian; Vidovic, Biljana; Winkler, Daniel; Moran, Patrick (2018)
• Pheno-com monitoring for management of Salsola tragus (Russian thistle). Teller, Noah; Bean, Travis (2017)

Other Salsola tragus Information

• CalPhotos - Images of plants taken mostly in California.
• Calflora - See the distribution of this species on Calflora's map of California.
• CalWeedMapper - Distribution information with ability to determine regional priorities.
• Jepson Online Interchange for California Flora - Information on taxonomy, biology, and distribution from UC Berkeley's Jepson Herbarium.
• CDFA - California official noxious weeds.
• USDA PLANTS Database - Federal database with information on identification and distribution, and links to websites in individual states.
• EDDMapS - North American distribution based on Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System.

Additional photos