Bassia

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Bassia
Desert bush 2.JPG
Bassia indica
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Subfamily: Camphorosmoideae
Tribe: Camphorosmeae
Genus: Bassia
All.
Species

See text

Synonyms

Chenoleioides(Ulbr.) Botsch.
KirilowiaBunge
KochiaRoth
LondesiaFisch. & C.A. Mey.
PanderiaFisch. & C.A. Mey.

Contents

Bassia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae. They are distributed in the western Mediterranean to eastern Asia. [1] Some occur outside their native ranges as introduced species. [2]

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 achenes. 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 Bassia hyssopifolia . [1]

According to its most recent description, the genus is defined by its three types of C4 "kochioid" leaf anatomy. Many other characters cannot be used to differentiate species from one another, because they are variable among individuals within the species. [1]

Habitat

The genus mainly occurs in steppe and desert ecosystems. [2] 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. [1]

Uses

Some palatable species of Bassia with high protein content are valuable components of rangelands, sometimes seeded for the melioration of overgrazed rangelands. [1]

Systematics

The genus name Bassia was first published in 1766 by Carlo Allioni, 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. [1]

Bassia laniflora Illustration Bassia laniflora0 clean.JPG
Bassia laniflora

Species include: [1]

Several other species formerly classified in Bassia are now treated in new genera in the subfamily Camphorosmoideae, some of them monotypic. B. hirsuta is now the only member of genus Spirobassia , and B. sedoides is the monotypic Sedobassia . B. dasyphylla is part of Grubovia . Bassia saxicola [6] is now Eokochia saxicola . [1]

Related Research Articles

Amaranthaceae Family of flowering plants

Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus Amaranthus. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it the most species-rich lineage within its parent order, Caryophyllales.

<i>Sophora</i> Genus of plants

Sophora is a genus of about 45 species of small trees and shrubs in the pea family Fabaceae. The species are native to southern Asia, Australasia, various Pacific islands, western South America, the western United States, Florida and Puerto Rico. The generic name is derived from sophera, an Arabic name for a pea-flowered tree.

Salsoloideae Subfamily of flowering plants

The Salsoloideae are a subfamily of the Amaranthaceae, formerly in family Chenopodiaceae.

<i>Beta</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants in the amaranth family Amaranthaceae

Beta is a genus in the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae. The best known member is the common beet, Beta vulgaris, but several other species are recognised. Almost all have common names containing the word "beet". Wild Beta species can be found throughout the Atlantic coast of Europe, the Mediterranean coastline, the Near East, and parts of Asia including India.

<i>Cuphea hyssopifolia</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Lythraceae

Cuphea hyssopifolia, the false heather, Mexican heather, Hawaiian heather or elfin herb, is a small evergreen shrub native to Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras.

<i>Lotononis</i> Genus of legumes

Lotononis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae and the tribe Crotalarieae. Almost all of the species in the genus occur in southern Africa.

<i>Kochia</i> Genus of plants

Kochia is a synonym of the genus Bassia, which belongs to the subfamily Camphorosmoideae of family Amaranthaceae.

<i>Neokochia americana</i> Species of flowering plant

Neokochia americana is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family, subfamily Camphorosmoideae, known by the common name green molly.

<i>Bassia scoparia</i> Species of flowering plant

Bassia scoparia is a large annual herb in the family Amaranthaceae native to Eurasia. It has been introduced to many parts of North America, where it is found in grassland, prairie, and desert shrub ecosystems. Its common names include ragweed, summer cypress, mock-cypress, kochia, belvedere, burningbush, Mexican firebrush, and Mexican fireweed, the provenance of the latter three names being the herb's red autumn foliage.

Neokochia californica is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Camphorosmoideae of the amaranth family known by the common name rusty molly. It is native to the valleys and deserts of southeastern California and adjacent parts of Nevada, where it grows in dry, alkaline soils such as alkali flats and desert washes. This is a perennial herb or small shrub growing one or more sprawling, branching stems to a maximum height near 60 centimeters. The stems are lined with narrow, elongated, somewhat flattened fleshy leaves up to about a centimeter long. The leaves and stem are coated in grayish or brownish hairs. The inflorescence is made up of one or more tiny hairy flowers sprouting from the axils of the leaves.

Camphorosmeae Tribe of flowering plants

Camphorosmeae is a species-rich tribe of the Amaranthaceae, formerly Chenopodiaceae, with 20 genera and about 179 species. It is classified as a single tribe of subfamily Camphorosmoideae.

Polycnemoideae Subfamily of flowering plants

The Polycnemoideae are a small subfamily of plants in the family Amaranthaceae, representing a basal evolutionary lineage. The few relictual species are distributed in Eurasia and North Africa, North America, and Australia.

<i>Blitum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Blitum is a genus of flowering plants in the amaranth family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. It is closely related to genus Spinacia. Its 12 species were traditionally placed in the genera Chenopodium, Monolepis, or Scleroblitum. The species of genus Blitum occur in Asia, Europe, North Africa, the Americas, and Australia.

<i>Bassia hyssopifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

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. It is native to parts of Asia and Eastern Europe, and it is known on other continents as an introduced species, including North and South America and Australia. It is a weed, invasive at times.

<i>Acer hyrcanum</i> Species of maple

Acer hyrcanum is a maple species sometimes referred to as Balkan maple. It grows in southeastern Europe and western Asia.

<i>Spirobassia</i> Genus of plants

Spirobassia is a monotypic plant genus with the species Spirobassia hirsuta.

<i>Eokochia</i>

Eokochia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Amaranthaceae. The only species is Eokochia saxicola.

<i>Hammada</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

Hammada is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Amaranthaceae. It is also in the Salsoloideae subfamily. Although it is a very unclear and unsorted genus with many species that have later been classed as synonyms.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kadereit, G. and H. Freitag. (2011). Molecular phylogeny of Camphorosmeae (Camphorosmoideae, Chenopodiaceae): Implications for biogeography, evolution of C4-photosynthesis and taxonomy. Taxon 60(1), 51-78.
  2. 1 2 Bassia. Flora of North America.
  3. 1 2 Bassia. USDA PLANTS.
  4. "Bassia prostrata". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  5. "Bassia scoparia". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  6. 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.