This native shrub is commonly known as prickly salt-wort.
Salsola australis is described as a "dicot" in the Chenopodiaceae family.
In the Queensland Nature Conservation Act it is classified as Least Concern. Under the Federal Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act it is not classified.
One record in Fraser Coast region at Dundowran Beach but widely distributed across the whole of mainland Australia. A variable species. In some dry areas it is regarded as a pest and appears to be closely related to similar problematic invasive species which originated in Eurasia but now also grow in parts of the United States. There the plants grow in the shape of a ball, dry out and are blown by wind to become the tumbleweeds often observed in western films. Source: Borger, C. (2007). The biology and ecology of Salsola australis R.Br. (Chenopodiaceae) in southwest Australian cropping systems. Also reported at Pialba and Point Vernon foreshore.
It has been recorded in the Wide Bay district in the Queensland Herbarium Census and is listed as occurring in the Fraser Coast region in the Atlas of Living Australia.
Reported at 4 Fraser Coast localities: Burrum Heads, Dundowran Beach, Pialba, Point Vernon.
Fraser Coast distribution based on unverified field reports.
AVH
