Talk:Salsola

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Should we create a section for pop culture? Tumbleweed gets lots of mention in pop culture, especially on blogs and chatrooms (like the PopoMundo chatroom). --211.29.2.63 12:11, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

I'd be inclined to change the Tumbleweed page (currently a redirect to here) into this. That page could then start with a pointer on the lines of "This page is about the plant in popular culture; for botanical information about the plant, see Salsola" - MPF 22:17, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
I have no expertise in this area but given tumbleweed's strong symbolic and cultural significance it does seem that this entry is very much incomplete. I would definitely support the creation of such a section, be it on this page or on another. Salsola's suggestion seems reasonable to me.--JSLR 22:35, 16 August 2006 (UTC)


Contents

[edit] I think yes.

[edit] ITIS "accepted" species

The long list of species in the article is a bit daunting. The "integrated taxonomic information service" ITIS presently accepts only the following six Salsola species:

  • S. collini Pallas
  • S. kali L.
  • S. paulsenii Litv.
  • S. soda L.
  • S. tragus L.
  • S. vermiculata L.

Should these be specifically listed in the taxobox? Should we distinguish between the accepted and the not accepted species?EAS 02:14, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

  • Despite claims that ITIS contains information for "North America and the world", its coverage outside North America is poor. For taxa that occur outside North America, the absence of an ITIS record should not be interpreted as a repudiation of the taxon. Hesperian 02:22, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
OK. Seems like the article needs a reference to that long list of species, tho - Easchiff 04:52, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
Yep. Hesperian 04:58, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
The article looks much better after your reformat. I've left a message for MPF; based on the article history, that's who inserted the species list some time ago. As I noted there, the [GBIF Portal] has a different, and equally lengthy, list of "unreviewed" species.Easchiff 10:28, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
Unfortunately, MPF left Wikipedia late last year. He was an excellent editor. But excellent or not, his contribution in this case appears to be unreferenced. If you have a respectable reference that differs from what this article says, you should feel free to update it. Hesperian 11:24, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
Yes, I see that MPF went cold turkey just before last Christmas. I've added explanatory text to his list of species, which is otherwise preserved.Easchiff 03:39, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
Good stuff. Hesperian 03:57, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Invasiveness

I wanted to add a note that, at least in the Mojave, tumbleweed colonizes empty ground, but seems unable to compete effectively against the native plants, and is never observed displacing any natives. However, while I remember reading about this (and it matches my personal observation), now that I'm looking, I can't find a reference that explicitly mentions its inability to compete. Anybody know of a good cite for that? Stan 14:50, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Taxonomy

GBIF, a reference given for the article, and plants.usda.gov put this genus in Chenopodiaceae, not Amaranthaceae. D. H. Goldfish 21:34, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Lifecycle

Would someone be so kind as to add some information on lifecycle? Why do tumbleweeds tumble? I'm assuming the dry weed spreads seeds as it is blown across land? Thanks. 192.58.204.226 (talk) 14:47, 20 November 2007 (UTC)