Home/Species/ Five-horn Smotherweed

Bassia hyssopifolia

(Pallas) Volk.

Five-horn Smotherweed

GNRUnranked Found in 12 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

GNRUnrankedGlobal Rank

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.157725

Element CodePDCHE06020

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVascular Plant

KingdomPlantae

PhylumAnthophyta

ClassDicotyledoneae

OrderCaryophyllales

FamilyAmaranthaceae

GenusBassia

Other Common Names

Bassia à feuilles d'hysope (FR) fivehorn smotherweed (EN)

Concept Reference

Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

Conservation Status

Review Date1994-03-22

Change Date1994-03-22

Edition Date1986-09-03

Edition AuthorsMarc C. Hoshovsky

Range Extent Comments

The following description is based on Collins and Blackwell (1979).

Bassia is native to parts of Europe and Asia, its type locality being near the Caspian Sea. It first appeared in North America near Fallon, Nevada around 1915. It may have been introduced as a seed contaminant, possibly with Turkistan alfalfa seed (Alex 1982). After establishment in Nevada, Bassia spread rapidly in all directions. By 1939 it was recorded as far from its point of introduction as British Columbia, Wyoming and Arizona, growing well in soils too alkaline for crops. Bassia had also established itself on the East Coast by the mid 1930s. In the East it has maintained a limited distribution from Boston to New York City and shows no sign of extending this range to any appreciable degree.

In California, Robbins et al. (1970) mention its occurrence in the "spiny salt bush association" of the San Joaquin Valley. It is also common on abandoned agricultural fields from Bishop to Lancaster in the Owens Valley, in the Santa Ana, Imperial and Palo Verde valleys, and extends northward through the Sacramento Valley (Robbins et al. 1970).

Ecology & Habitat

Diagnostic Characteristics

Bassia hyssopifoliais sometimes confused with Russian thistle (Salsola iberica). Russian thistle is more profusely branched and spiny than Bassia (Fischer et al. 1979).

Habitat

In California, Robbins et al. (1970) mention its occurrence in the "spiny salt bush association" of the San Joaquin Valley.

Reproduction

Beyond one brief article on the toxicity of Bassia hyssopifolia to sheep, most of the available information on this species has been summarized in four paragraphs (Collins and Blackwell 1979). It is an annual and reproduces by seeds (Muenscher 1955), which do not survive well in fresh water for extended periods (Bruns 1965). Considering the external structure of the seed, dispersal is most likely accomplished by becoming attached to the fur or feathers of passing animals (Collins and Blackwell 1979).

Other Nations (2)

CanadaNNA

Province	Rank	Native
New Brunswick	SNA	No
Alberta	SNA	No
Saskatchewan	SNA	No
British Columbia	SNA	No

United StatesNNA

Province	Rank	Native
New York	SNA	No
Maine	SNA	No
Colorado	SNA	No
Washington	SNA	No
Texas	SNA	No
California	SNA	No
Oregon	SNA	No
Montana	SNA	No
Idaho	SNA	No
Rhode Island	SNA	No
Hawaii	SNA	No
New Jersey	SNA	No
Utah	SNA	No
Nevada	SNA	No
Wyoming	SNA	No
South Dakota	SNA	No
New Mexico	SNA	No
Arizona	SNA	No
Massachusetts	SNA	No

Plant Characteristics

Economic Value (Genus)No

Roadless Areas (12)

California (10)

Area	Forest	Acres
Black Canyon	Inyo National Forest	32,421
Coyote Southeast	Inyo National Forest	53,159
Horse Mdw.	Inyo National Forest	5,687
Log Cabin Saddlebag	Inyo National Forest	15,165
Paiute	Inyo National Forest	58,712
Salt Creek	Angeles National Forest	11,022
Soldier Canyon	Inyo National Forest	40,589
South Sierra	Inyo National Forest	41,853
Tinemaha	Inyo National Forest	27,060
Wonoga Pk.	Inyo National Forest	11,272

Nevada (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Boundary Peak (NV)	Inyo National Forest	21,851

Utah (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Stansbury Mountains	Wasatch-Cache National Forest	39,696

References (13)

Alex, J.F. 1982. Canada. In Holzner, W. and N. Numata (eds.), Biology and ecology of weeds. pp. 311.
Bruns, V.F. 1965. The effects of fresh water storage on the germination of certain weed seeds. Weeds 13(1): 38-40.
Collins, S.L. and W.H. Blackwell, Jr. 1979. BASSIA (Chenopodiaceae) in North America. SIDA 8(1): 57-64.
Fischer, B.B., A.H. Lange, and J. McCaskell. 1979. Fivebook bassia - bassia hyssopifolia. In Grower's. Weed identification handbook, University of California Agricultural Extension Service.
Fuller, T. C. and G. D. Barbe. 1985. The Bradley method of eliminating exotic plants from natural reserves. Fremontia 13:(2): 24-26.
James, L. F. and A. E. Johnson. 1976. Some major plant toxicities of the western U.S. Journal of range management 29: 356-363.
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Muenscher, W.C. 1955. Weeds. 2nd Edition. MacMillian, NY.
Munz, P.A., and D.D. Keck. 1973. A California Flora and Supplement. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. 1905 pp.
Parker, K. F. 1972. An illustrated guide to Arizona weeds. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ. [http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/onlinebks/weeds/titlweed.htm]
Robbins, W.W., M.K. Bellue, and W.S. Ball. 1970. Weeds of California. State of California, Department of Agriculture. 547 pp.
United States Department of Agriculture. 1984. Pesticide background statements. Vol. I: Herbicides. Agric. Handbook No. 633, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Watson, H. K. 1977. Present weed control projections for the year 2001. Unpublished manuscript. Copy on file at The Nature Conservancy, California Field Office, 785 Market Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103.