The widespread interest manifested in our state and elsewhere in the northwest indicates that the Russian Thistle (Salsola kali, variety traqus), is a miserable and execrable weed, doing much injury to agriculture.

At the request of the Director of the Experiment Station I have devoted a little time to the botany of this weed. Some attention has therefore been given to the study of the weed, its germination, the anatomy of the root, stem, leaf and seed. A study of the anatomy will be of interest, because its structure may best adapt it to growing on high, dry soil. Professor L. H. Dewey says:

The Russian Thistle grows best on high, dry soil, where it is not much crowded by other plants. It is seldom seen in sloughs or low land, and makes no progress in the native prairie, except where the sod has been broken by badger burrows or by the overfeeding and consequent tramping of cattle on the ranges. In all places it is more abundant and more robust in dry seasons.