Participant Info

Species

Salsola tragus [Kali tragus] [Salsola australis] [Salsola kali]

Family

Amaranthaceae

CommonName

prickly Russian thistle, windwitch, tumbleweed

Presence

Yes

Status

exotic

EarliestDate

1915

LatestDate

2020

Ecosystem

basin, shrubland, foothill, montane, ruderal, urban

Geobotanical

SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans, Culebras, NCristos, UBasin, LBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Baca, Great Sand Dunes, San Luis Lakes

Other Localities

Alamosa (town), Del Norte

PhotoRecords

YES Rich Haswell: Rio Grande Co, within town limits of Del Norte, 24 Aug 2020

Comments

First recorded in Colorado in 1881 (Denver), and from the Watershed in 1915 (Saguache Ranger Station), prickly Russian thistle is now everywhere in the Basin and foothills of the Valley, including within town limits of Del Norte, South Fork, Monte Vista, Alamosa, and probably all other Valley towns. SEINet vouchers do not do justice to its ubiquity in the Watershed because of the reluctance to collectors to collect it. This most maligned species of tumbleweed, Salsola tragus is present in every state of the USA except those of the Deep South. It follows the Rio Grande drainage through New Mexico and Texas to the Gulf of Mexico.

Annotation