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Bassia hyssopifolia

(Five-Horn Smother-Weed)

Common Names

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Common Names in Chinese:

Gou Ci Wu Bing Li

Common Names in English:

Five-Horn Smother-Weed, Fivehook Bassia, Fivehorn Smotherweed, Smother Weed, Smotherweed

Common Names in Portuguese:

Falsa-Moreninha

Description

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Family Chenopodiaceae

Herbs annual , subshrubs , or shrubs , rarely perennial herbs or small trees . Stems and branches sometimes jointed (articulate ) ; indumentum of vesicular hairs (furfuraceous or farinose ), ramified (dendroid), stellate , rarely of glandular hairs, or plants glabrous . Leaves alternate or opposite, exstipulate , petiolate or sessile; leaf blade flattened, terete , semiterete, or in some species reduced to scales . Flowers monochlamydeous , bisexual or unisexual (plants monoecious or dioecious, rarely polygamous) ; bracteate or ebracteate . Bractlets (if present) 1 or 2, lanceolate, navicular , or scale-like. Perianth membranous, herbaceous, or succulent, (1-) 3-5-parted; segments imbricate, rarely in 2 series, often enlarged and hardened in fruit, or with winged , acicular , or tuberculate appendages abaxially, seldom unmodified (in tribe Atripliceae female flowers without or with poorly developed perianth borne between 2 specialized bracts or at base of a bract) . Stamens shorter than or equaling perianth segments and arranged opposite them; filaments subulate or linear , united at base and usually forming a hypogynous disk, sometimes with interstaminal lobes ; anthers dorsifixed , incumbent in bud, 2-locular, extrorse , or dehiscent by lateral , longitudinal slits, obtuse or appendaged at apex. Ovary superior, ovoid or globose , of 2-5 carpels, unilocular ; ovule 1, campylotropous; style terminal , usually short, with 2(-5) filiform or subulate stigmas, rarely capitate, papillose , or hairy on one side or throughout. Fruit a utricle, rarely a pyxidium (dehiscent capsule) ; pericarp membranous, leathery, or fleshy , adnate or appressed to seed. Seed horizontal, vertical , or oblique , compressed globose, lenticular , reniform , or obliquely ovoid; testa crustaceous , leathery, membranous, or succulent; embryo annular , semi-annular, or spiral , with narrow cotyledons; endosperm much reduced or absent; perisperm abundant or absent.

Probably about 100 genera and 1400 species (depending on taxonomic opinions ) : mainly in arid areas, deserts, and coastal and saline habitats of N and S Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America; 42 genera (two endemic, two introduced ) and 190 species (21 endemic, six introduced) in China.

Many species of Chenopodiaceae are adapted to, and are major components of, arid or ruderal environments. They are often intimately involved with the daily life of people. For example, Beta vulgaris is one of the most important sources for sugar ; Chenopodium quinoa is a new high-protein crop ; Spinacia oleracea and Beta vulgaris are excellent vegetables; Dysphania ambrosioides and Salsola collina are used medicinally; seeds of Agriophyllum squarrosum are called "sand-rice" locally and are edible; seeds of Corispermum declinatum are used for making gin; the ash of Halogeton arachnoideus and some species of Salsola contains soda which is used in noodle-making; and Anabasis aphylla can be used as an insecticide . Many species are important as animal forage in desert, semidesert, and steppe regions, and some species make good windbreaks and soil binders. Haloxylon ammodendron has been used extensively in biological reconditioning of the desert.[1]

Genus Bassia

Herbs annual . Leaves alternate, sessile, linear to lanceolate, complanate , semiterete, or terete , membranous or fleshy , densely hairy . Flowers solitary or forming a spike, sessile, without bracts or bractlets , bisexual . Perianth discoid , 5-lobed, hairy; segments equal; abaxial appendages uncinate , subulate , or triangular in fruit. Stamens 5. Ovary broadly ovoid ; style short; stigmas 2 or 3. Utricle depressed ovoid; pericarp membranous, free from seed. Seed horizontal, depressed globose; embryo annular .

Between ten and twelve species: warm-temperate and subtropical zones of the Old World; three species in China.[2]

Physical Description

Species Bassia hyssopifolia

Plants 5-100 cm. Stems divari-cately 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. [source]

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 . [source]

Habit: Vine , Forb/herb • Growth Form: Single Stem • Shape and Orientation: Erect

Flowers: Bloom Period: June, July, August, September. • Flower Color: Green • Flower Conspicuous: No

Seeds: Seed per Pound: 1500 • Seed Spread Rate: Moderate • Seedling Vigor: Medium • Fruit/Seed Abundance: High • Fruit/Seed Color: Black • Fruit/Seed Conspicuous: Yes • Cold Stratification Required: No

Foliage: Foliage Color: Gray-Green • Foliage Porosity Summer: Porous • Foliage Porosity Winter: Porous • Foliage Texture: Coarse • Fall Conspicuous: No • Leaf Retention: No

Size/Age/Growth

Active Growth Period: Summer • Growth Rate: Rapid • After Harvest Regrowth Rate: Slow • Mature Height (feet): 0.8 • Size: 24-36" tall. • Vegetative Spread Rate: None • Lifespan: Lifespan

Habitat

Saline habitats , coastal dunes, salt marshes, disturbed habitats, roadsides, fields ; 0-1200 m [3].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,901 meters (0 to 9,518 feet).[4]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Annual • Coppice Potential: No • Progagated by Bulbs: No • Propagated by Bare Root: No • Propagated by Container: No • Propagated by Corms: No • Propagated by Cuttings: No • Propagated by Seed: Yes • Propagated by Sod: No • Propagated by Sprigs: No • Propagated by Tubers: No • Fruit/Seed Period Begin: Summer • Fruit/Seed Period End: Summer • Fruit/Seed Persistence: Yes

Growth

Culture: Space 36-48" apart.

Soil: Adapted to Medium Textured: Adapted to Medium Textured Soils • Adapted to Coarse Textured Soils: No • Anaerobic Tolerance: Medium • Salinity Tolerance: High • CaCO3 Tolerance: High • Minimum pH: 6.5 • Maximum pH: 9.1 • Fertility Requirement: Low

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full sun . • Shade Tolerance: Intolerant

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: Low • Minimum Precipitation: 7 • Maximum Precipitation: 24 • Moisture Use: Medium

Temperature: Minimum Temperature (F): 52 • Minimum Frost Free Days: 135

Taxonomy

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Unambiguous Synonyms

  1. Echinopsilon hyssopifolium (Pallas) Moquin-Tandon
  2. Echinopsilon hyssopifolius (Pallas) Moq.
  3. Kochia hyssopifolia (Pallas) Schrad.
  4. Salsola hyssopifolia Pallas, Reise Russ. Reich 1: 491, Plate 2, Fig. 1. 1771

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Place of publication : Revis. gen. pl. 2:547. 1891

Name verified on 03-Sep-2002 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 03-Sep-2002

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Bassia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 131 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

B. aegyptiaca · B. aellenii · B. alata · B. albescens · B. albolanata · B. americana (Green Molly) · B. andersonii · B. anisacanthoides · B. arabica · B. articulata · B. astrocarpa · B. beaugleholei · B. bicornis · B. bicuspis · B. biflora · B. birchii · B. blackiana · B. blakei · B. bourdilonii · B. brachyptera · B. brevicuspis · B. brevifolia · B. burbidgeae · B. butyracea · B. calcarata · B. californica · B. caloneura · B. caput-casuarii · B. carnosa · B. chippendalei · B. clavata · B. clelandii · B. constricta · B. convexula · B. copleyi · B. cornishiana · B. cornishiana var. birchii · B. costata · B. crassifolia · B. crenata · B. cristata · B. cucullata · B. cuneata · B. dallachyana · B. dasyphylla · B. decurrens · B. densiflora · B. diacantha · B. diffusa · B. dinteri · B. divaricata · B. drummondii · B. echinopsila · B. edulis · B. eichleri · B. elongata · B. enchylaenoides · B. eremaea · B. eriacantha · B. eriantha · B. eriochiton · B. eriophora · B. eurotioides · B. everistiana · B. filiformis · B. forrestiana · B. gardneri · B. georgei · B. glabra · B. hirsuta (Hairy Smother-Weed) · B. holtiana · B. hostilis · B. hyssopifolia (Five-Horn Smother-Weed) · B. illipe · B. inchoata · B. indica · B. intricata · B. iranica · B. johnsonii · B. lanata · B. lanicuspis · B. laniflora · B. lanuginosa · B. latifolia · B. limbata · B. litoralis · B. longicuspis · B. longifolia · B. longistyla · B. luehmannii · B. microcalyx · B. minuta · B. mottleyana · B. muricata · B. murrayae · B. nitida · B. obconica · B. obliquicuspis · B. paradoxa · B. parkii

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 01, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Gelin Zhu, Sergei L. Mosyakin & Steven E. Clemants "Chenopodiaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 352. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. Gelin Zhu, Sergei L. Mosyakin & Steven E. Clemants "Bassia". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 386. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. "Bassia hyssopifolia". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 309, 310. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  4. Mean = 925.760 meters (3,037.270 feet), Standard Deviation = 754.260 based on 234 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/1/2009