Species: Bassia hyssopifolia

The following description is based on Collins and Blackwell (1979). <br><br>Bassia is native to parts of Europe and Asia, its type locality being near the Caspian Sea. It first appeared in North America near Fallon, Nevada around 1915. It may have been introduced as a seed contaminant, possibly with Turkistan alfalfa seed (Alex 1982). After establishment in Nevada, Bassia spread rapidly in all directions. By 1939 it was recorded as far from its point of introduction as British Columbia, Wyoming and Arizona, growing well in soils too alkaline for crops. Bassia had also established itself on the East Coast by the mid 1930s. In the East it has maintained a limited distribution from Boston to New York City and shows no sign of extending this range to any appreciable degree. <br><br>In California, Robbins et al. (1970) mention its occurrence in the "spiny salt bush association" of the San Joaquin Valley. It is also common on abandoned agricultural fields from Bishop to Lancaster in the Owens Valley, in the Santa Ana, Imperial and Palo Verde valleys, and extends northward through the Sacramento Valley (Robbins et al. 1970).