Buckbush
Small Bush, with size
Buckbush
Young Larger Plant Habit
| Buckbush Small Bush, with size | | Buckbush Young Larger Plant Habit | | ||
 | Class: | Plants (Plantae) - Land Plants (Charophyta) - Land Plants (Equisetopsida) | |||
| Order: | Betalains (Caryophyllales) | ||||
| Family: | Goosefoot (Chenopodiaceae) iNaturalist Observation | ||||
| Species: | Buckbush (Salsola australis) | ||||
| This Photo: | 🔍Small Habit🔎 | ||||
| Synonyms: | Salsola kali or Salsola tragus | ||||
| Other names: | Prickly Rolypoly, Prickly Saltwort, Roly Poly, Russian Thistle, Saltwort or Soft Roly-poly | ||||
Thank you Andrew Allanson for identifying and Dr Kym Nicolson & Alan Dandie (Alan_Dandie) for confirming the id of this species for us General Species Information: Found in the Murray Mallee SA, Flinders Ranges and possibly elsewhere What an intriguing plant this is. Long considered to be an introduced plant, studies proved this to be a native and various forms of it have been DNA tested and all link back to the same species. It has petalless flowers, that can be green or red, with 5-lobed pale-green fruits somewhat similar to bluebush (Maireana sp); which makes sense as it's in the same family (Chenopodiaceae). It's instantly recognisable in broad acre farming regions from the car, but looks incredibly different in it's early stages & smaller sizes. It isn't so wide spread in native habitats. Generally considered a pest, but a native just the same that should not be removed from native sites. It has as many common names as habits | |||||
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