Single Record

PhotoRecords: YES: iNaturalist observation #183924205, Costilla Co, 1.6 km south of bridge over the Rio Grande; iNaturalist observation #131687707, Alamosa Co, 16.7 air miles ENE of Alamosa

Comments: Barbwire Russian thistle has no vouchers from the Watershed, but two recent iNaturalist observations place it there: 16.7 miles ENE of Alamosa in Alamosa Co (2022), and 1.6 miles south of Hwy 142 just inside Costilla Co (2023). Salsola paulsenii, introduced from Eurasia, was first vouchered for the USA in 1911 near Boise, ID. Current distribution includes the drier parts of southwestern Oregon, southern California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. The Watershed records would be the only ones from the entire Rio Grande drainage. Note that the species can be separated from S. tragus by the columnar beak in the center of the flower, by the lengthy acuminate tip of the perianth segments, by its fleshier leaves, and by its bushier, multi-stemmed shape. Still, S. paulsenii can easily be mistaken for the exceedingly common S. tragus, and may be under-reported from the Watershed. Note that S. paulsenii lacks the abscission cells at its base and so is not a tumbleweed, in contrast to its cousin S. tragus.