Salsola paulsenii

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Salsola paulsenii, or barbwire Russian thistle, is a flowering plant in the amaranth family. Native to Eurasia, it has spread to the American Southwest as an introduced species and can be a weed in sandy, disturbed habitats. It is an annual herb that forms a tangled clump of stems up to about a meter long. The reddish stems bear yellow-green, threadlike to needlelike leaves, often ending in a small spine, measuring from a few millimeters to three centimeters long. The plant produces an interrupted series of flowers, with one flower at each leaf axil. Each flower sits inside a circular arrangement of wide, winged sepals that are whitish at the tips and pinkish at the bases. The species is named after Danish botanist Ove Paulsen. It resembles Salsola tragus, and they can hybridize in some cases. Synonyms include Kali paulsenii, Kali pellucidum, and Salsola pellucida.