Salsola kali is the restored botanical name for a species of flowering plants in the amaranth family.

It is native to the Northern African and European Atlantic coasts to the Mediterranean (although it has been introduced elsewhere).

[1] Kali turgidum[2] is a synonym for Salsola kali:[3] an annual plant that grows in salty sandy coastal soils,[4] whose commonly known as prickly saltwort or prickly glasswort.

[4] In the Mediterranean and at dry inland places it is replaced by Kali tragus (syn.

In the medieval and early modern centuries the Kali plant and others like it were collected at tidal marshes and seashores.

The soda ash was used primarily to make glass (secondarily used as a cleaning agent).

Historically in the late medieval and early post-medieval centuries the word "Kali" could refer to any such plants.

Today such plants are also called saltworts, referring to their relatively high salt content.

In the early 19th century, plant sources were supplanted by synthetic sodium carbonate produced using the Leblanc process.