Kali (plant)

Kali was a genus of plants in the subfamily Salsoloideae in the family Amaranthaceae, that has now been subsumed into the genus Salsola.^[1]

Common names of various members of this genus include buckbush, rolypoly,^[2] tumbleweed for its wind-blown seed dispersal habit, and Tartar thistle^[3] and Russian thistle for its origins.^[3]

Taxonomy

The type species of the genus was Kali turgidum (now Salsola kali). The genus consisted of ca. 23 species,^[4] including:^[5]

• Kali australe (R.Br.) Akhani & E.H.Roalson = Salsola kali R.Br.
• Kali basalticum C.Brullo, Brullo, Gaskin, Giusso, Hrusa & Salmeri = Salsola basaltica (C.Brullo, Brullo, Gaskin, Giusso, Hrusa & Salmeri) C.Brullo & Brullo
• Kali collinum (Pall.) Akhani & E.H.Roalson = Salsola collina Pall.
• Kali dodecanesicum C.Brullo, Brullo, Giusso, Ilardi = Salsola squarrosa Steven ex Moq.
• Kali gobicola (Iljin) Brullo & Hrusa (2015) = Salsola × gobicola Iljin
• Kali griffithii (Bunge) Akhani & E.H.Roalson = Salsola griffithii (Bunge) Freitag & Khani
• Kali jacquemontii (Moq.) Akhani & E.H.Roalson = Salsola jacquemontii Moq.
• Kali ikonnikovii (Iljin) Akhani & E.H.Roalson = Salsola ikonnikovii Iljin
• Kali komarovii (Iljin) Akhani & E.H.Roalson = Salsola komarovii Iljin
• Kali macrophyllum (R.Br.) Galasso & Bartolucci = Salsola australis R.Br.
• Kali monopterum (Bunge) Lomon. = Salsola monoptera Bunge
• Kali nepalensis (Grubov) Brullo, Giusso & Hrusa (2015) = Salsola jacquemontii Moq.
• Kali paulsenii (Litv.) Akhani & E.H.Roalson = Salsola paulsenii Litv.
• Kali pellucidum (Litv.) Brullo, Giusso & Hrusa = Salsola paulsenii Litv.
• Kali praecox (Litv.) Sukhor. = Salsola praecox (Litv.) Litv.
• Kali rosaceum (L.) Moench = Noaea rosacea (L.) Sennikov
• Kali sinkiangense (A.J.Li) Brullo, Giusso & Hrusa = Salsola sinkiangensis A.J.Li
• Kali ryanii (Hrusa & Gaskin) Brullo & Hrusa = Salsola ryanii Hrusa & Gaskin
• Kali tamamschjanae (Iljin) Akhani & E.H.Roalson = Salsola tamamschjanae Iljin
• Kali tamariscinum (Pall.) Akhani & E.H.Roalson = Salsola tamariscina Pall.
• Kali turgidum (Dumort.) Guterm. = Salsola kali L.
• Kali zaidamicum (Iljin) Akhani & E.H.Roalson = Salsola zaidamica Iljin

In 2014, Mosyakin et al. proposed to conserve Salsola kali (= Kali turgidum) as nomenclatoral type for the genus Salsola. If the proposal will be accepted, all species of genus Kali would belong to Salsola again.^[6] The General Committee of the XIX International Botanical Congress approved Mosyakin et al.'s proposal,^[7] rendering the species related to Salsola kali as constituting the genus Salsola, while those related to Salsola soda should be transferred to another genus.^[8]