''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.''Bassia''. Flora of North America.
Description
The species of genus ''Bassia'' are annuals or perennial subshrubs. Their leaves are variable. The flowers are normally inconspicuous, in spike-like inflorescences without bracteoles. The fruits are
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
s. The seed contains an annular, horseshoe-shaped or folded embryo that surrounds the perisperm. The fruiting perianth remains either unappendaged or develops 5 wings. The wings are spiny in ''
steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslands, ...
and
desert
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
ecosystems. Some species can be found in ruderal sites and salt marshes up to subalpine altitudes. Phylogenetical research suggests that the genus evolved in the Miocene.
Uses
Some palatable species of ''Bassia'' with high protein content are valuable components of rangelands, sometimes seeded for the melioration of overgrazed rangelands.
Systematics
The genus name ''Bassia'' was first published in 1766 by
Carlo Allioni
Carlo Allioni (23 September 1728 in Turin – 30 July 1804 in Turin) was an Italian physician and professor of botany at the University of Turin. His most important work was ''Flora Pedemontana, sive enumeratio methodica stirpium indigenarum P ...
, with the type species ''Bassia muricata'' L. (under the name ''B. aegyptiaca''). The genus belongs to the subfamily Camphorosmoideae of the Amaranthaceae.
As of 2011, after its most recent reorganization, it contains about 20 species.
Species include:
*'' Bassia angustifolia'' (Turcz.) Freitag & G.Kadereit
*''
Bassia arabica
''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Bassia dinteri
''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Bassia eriophora'' (Schrad.) Asch.
*''
Bassia hyssopifolia
''Bassia hyssopifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae, known by the common names five-horn smotherweed, five-hook bassia, and thorn orache.''Bassia''. USDA PLANTS.
*''
Bassia indica
''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Bassia laniflora
''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Bassia lasiantha
''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Bassia littorea
''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Bassia muricata
''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Bassia odontoptera
''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Bassia pilosa
''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Bassia prostrata'' (L.) A.J.Scott – forage kochia, prostrate summer-cypress
*''
Bassia salsoloides
''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Bassia scoparia'' (L.) A.J.Scott – burningbush, belvedere, kochia, Mexican fireweed, Mexican firebrush
*''
Bassia stellaris
''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Bassia tianschanica
''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Bassia tomentosa
''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Bassia villosissima
''Bassia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species.Camphorosmoideae, some of them monotypic. ''B. hirsuta'' is now the only member of genus ''
Spirobassia
''Spirobassia'' is a monotypic plant genus with the species ''Spirobassia hirsuta''.
It has cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the wor ...
'', and ''B. sedoides'' is the monotypic '' Sedobassia''. ''B. dasyphylla'' is part of ''
Grubovia
''Grubovia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Amaranthaceae.
It is native to Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, West Siberia, Mongolia, Tibet and parts of China (Manchuria, Inner M ...
''. ''Bassia saxicola''Domina, G. and A. Santangelo. 2011 ''Bassia saxicola''. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. Downloaded on 04 August 2013. is now ''
Eokochia saxicola
''Eokochia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Amaranthaceae. The only species is ''Eokochia saxicola''.
Its native range is mainland Italy and Sicily.
The genus name is in honour of Wilhelm Daniel Joseph Koch (177 ...