Bassia hyssopifolia

Five horn bassia

Family: Chenopodiaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Five horn bassia is a naturalized annual found in southern California, commonly occurring in disturbed sites, fields, and roadsides at elevations below 1,200 meters. Flowering from May to November, this plant produces small, tan-woolly flowers with delicate spines approximately 1 millimeter long. Growing to heights of 1.5 meters with slender, branching stems, it develops flat leaves 5 to 60 millimeters long that often wither with age. Its leaves are narrow, measuring 1 to 3.5 millimeters wide, and typically appear pale green. The fruit is small, approximately 1 to 1.5 millimeters in diameter, containing a dark brown seed.

Habitat: Disturbed sites, fields, roadsides

Bloom period: May-Nov

Elevation: < 1200 m

Bioregions: CA (exc NW, SNH), common s CA

California counties: Kern, Lassen, Fresno, Orange, Merced, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Contra Costa, Mono, San Diego, Inyo, San Benito, Ventura, Siskiyou, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Modoc, Alpine, San Joaquin, Colusa, San Francisco, Imperial, Glenn, Kings, Plumas, San Luis Obispo, Butte, Stanislaus, Alameda, San Mateo, Napa, Yolo, Solano, Tulare, Monterey

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.