Salsola ruthenica
ζ*S. ruthenica Iljin ζ* (often known as S. pestifer), Russian thistle, has been collected at Molesworth Station, inland Marlborough, in 1947; fortunately this notorious bushy, annual weed with filiform, rather rigid lvs and spineless fruiting perianth has not been collected since. Molesworth has been a trial site for assessing the suitability of many plants for high country areas. The sp. is often treated as a subsp. of S. kali. (Europe, temperate Asia, N. Africa, 1983).
