Salsola glauca Marschall von Bieberstein, Tabl. Prov. Mer. Casp. 112. 1798; Aellenia glauca (Marschall von Bieberstein) Aellen; Caroxylon glaucum (Marschall von Bieberstein) Moquin-Tandon; Salsola spicata Pallas (1803), not Willdenow (1798).

Subshrubs 30-50(-70) cm tall. Branches spreading, gray-green, glabrous. Leaves 1.5-3 cm × 2-3 mm, base slightly decurrent, apex pungent. Spikes loose; bracts ovate, nearly equaling perianth, margin membranous; bractlets shorter than perianth, apex acuminate. Wing of perianth segments yellow-brown, orbicular or obovate, margin irregularly crenate; wings together 1.5-2.5 cm in diam. Fl. and fr. Jun-Aug.

The only infraspecific entity currently known from China is subsp. glaucus var. heptapotamicus (Botschantzev) Kothe-Heinrich (Biblioth. Bot. 143: 108. 1993; H. heptapotamicus Botschantzev, Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 18: 161. 1981), which otherwise occurs in SE Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Gobi desert, semideserts, arid slopes. N Xinjiang [C and SW Asia].