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Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Five-horn Smother-weed
Bassia hyssopifolia (Pallas) Kuntze

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Goosefoot (Chenopodiaceae)
Flowering: July-September
Field Marks: This annual herb with inconspicuous flowers differs from all other members of the family by having a short, hooked spine at or near the tip of each sepal.
Habitat: Alkaline flats.
Habit: Annual herb with fibrous roots.
Stems: Usually upright, much branched, up to 8 inches tall, smooth or hairy.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, linear to linear-lanceolate, up to 1 3/4 inches long, pointed at the tip, tapering to the base, hairy, without teeth.
Flowers: Several crowded into terminal or axillary spikes.
Sepals: 5, green, united below, hairy, each lobe about 1/16 inch long, with a short, hooked spine at or near the tip.
Petals: 0.
Stamens: 5.
Pistils: Ovary superior; stigmas 2.
Fruits: Flattened, brown to black, up to 1/12 inch across, enclosed by the enlarged, hairy sepals.

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U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/florawe/species/8/basshyss.htm
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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:27:41 EST
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