Bassia prostrata(L.) Beck

forage kochia

WFO wfo-0000561191 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Bassia prostrata, photographed by Yurii Basov
fig. a Yurii Basov, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-20 / obs. 199062216
Bassia prostrata, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. b Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 167315498
Bassia prostrata, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. c Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 167315486
Bassia prostrata, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. d Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 167315522
Bassia prostrata, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. e Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 166478337
Bassia prostrata, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. f Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 166482083
Bassia prostrata, photographed by Anna Petrosyan
fig. g Anna Petrosyan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 166478274
Bassia prostrata, photographed by Татьяна Максимова
fig. h Татьяна Максимова, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 159888487

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 42 botanical countries

Regions where Bassia prostrata is native: Algeria, Morocco, Afghanistan, Altay, Buryatiya, China North-Central, Chita, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Irkutsk, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Manchuria, North Caucasus, Tadzhikistan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Krym, South European Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine AlgeriaMoroccoAfghanistanAltayBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChitaInner MongoliaIranIraqIrkutskKazakhstanKirgizstanKrasnoyarskManchuriaNorth CaucasusTadzhikistanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanTuvaUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangPakistanWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaFranceGreeceHungaryItalyKrymSouth European RussiaSpainSwitzerlandUkraine
Native distribution of Bassia prostrata, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Altay ALT
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
Chita CTA
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Irkutsk IRK
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Manchuria CHM
North Caucasus NCS
Tadzhikistan TZK
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Tuva TVA
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
East European Russia RUE
France FRA
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Krym KRY
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Morocco MOR
Pakistan PAK ASIA-TROPICAL
West Himalaya WHM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 1,704 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -24.8 °C -8.5 °C 0.8 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 23.3 °C 27.2 °C 32.1 °C
Annual rainfall 227 mm 441 mm 663 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 12 mm 82 mm 128 mm

It is found where winters are severely cold. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,704 research-grade observations of Bassia prostrata that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 15 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Bassia prostrata (L.) A.J.Scott
  • Chenolea lanata Jacq. ex Moq.
  • Chenopodium augustanum All.
  • Chenopodium camphoratifolium Pourr.
  • Chenopodium camphorosmoides Moq.
  • Chenopodium lineare Steud.
  • Chenopodium sericeum Vitman
  • Chenopodium villosum Moq.
  • Kochia prostrata (L.) Schrad.
  • Kochia prostrata var. prostrata
  • Kochia prostrata var. rubella Moq.
  • Kochia suffruticulosa Less.
  • Kochia toseffii (Urum.) Pénzes
  • Salsola prostrata L.
  • Salsola toseffi Urum.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.