Plants 5-50 cm. Stems divari-cately branched. Leaves sessile; blade linear or filiform, semiterete. Inflorescences with incurved axes, flexuous. Perianth segments: (2-) 3(-4) with short, conic, non-hooked appendage adaxially at maturity, others normally unappendaged adaxially. 2n = 18. Flowering late summer-fall. Seashores, coastal dunes, salt marshes, other saline and alkaline habitats; 0-50 m; introduced; Md., Mass., N.J., N.Y., Pa., Va.; Eurasia. The history of invasion of Bassia species in North America, together with some details of their distribution, is provided in the treatment by S. L. Collins and W. H. Blackwell (1978). In my opinion, B.hirsuta, unlike B.hyssopifolia, can hardly be regarded as a potentially serious weed because it is confined to highly saline habitats.
