Flora of North America species comparison

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Bassia hyssopifolia

bassia, five-hook bassia, five-horned smotherweed, fivehorn smotherweed, hyssop bassia
Habit Plants 5–100 cm.
Stems

divaricately branched or simple.
Leaves

sessile (or sometimes narrowed into pseudopetiole);

blade lanceolate-elliptic, lanceolate, or linear, flat, base cuneate.
Inflorescences

with ± straight axes.
Perianth

segments with thin, hooked spine adaxially at maturity.
2n

= 18.

Bassia hyssopifolia
Phenology Flowering late summer–fall.
Habitat Saline habitats, coastal dunes, salt marshes, disturbed habitats, roadsides, fields
Elevation 0-1200 m (0-3900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MA; MT; NM; NV; NY; OR; SD; TX; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; Eurasia (e Europe, arid regions of Asia) [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Bassia hyssopifolia has been reported from southern Saskatchewan, but H. J. Scoggan (1978–1979, part 3) noted that this record possibly referred to Kochia scoparia (Linnaeus) Schrader. Putative hybrids between B. hyssopifolia and K. scoparia are reported from Utah (S. L. Welsh 1984). Such hybridization is extremely interesting because it has not been reported within the native ranges of those species in Eurasia. I have seen only one specimen that might represent such a hybrid. Its general habit resembles Bassia (including pubescent leaves), but its perianth segments are very variable, with winglike, conic, or almost spinescent appendages.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 310.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Bassia
Sibling taxa
B. hirsuta
Synonyms Salsola hyssopifolia, Echinopsilon hyssopifolium
Name authority (Pallas) Kuntze: Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 547. (1891)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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