Is it a barren salt pool or does it enjoy a unique flora which is salt -
resistant?

There are no plants in or right next to the Dead Sea. Israel does have some
salt resistant plants, but they grow elsewhere, either near brackish
underground water or on the Mediterranean coast. Find out why Abraham planted a
tamarisk in Beersheba. Read Tree and Shrub in our Biblical Heritage, by Nogah
Hareuveni.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)