Kochia (Bassia scoparia)
Description: An annual, profusely bushy and branched weed with fine-textured foliage, 1'-5' in height. Plants are blue-green to gray-green but take on a reddish or purplish coloration later in the season.
Life cycle: Annual
Habitat: Dry-land, crops, pastures, and waste areas.
Leaf: Leaves have simple arrangement and are, sessile, alternate, linear to lanceolate, and are 1"-2" in length. Leaves are hairy to almost smooth with entire, hairy margins.
Stem: Much-branched, round, often re-tinged, usually with soft hairs above.
Flower: Small, green, inconspicuous flowers, bloomng in July to September.
Fruit: Small bladder-like utricles.
The problem is…. animal health. Kochia can accumulate high nitrate concentrations under certain conditions. Caution should be exercised when grazing or feeding harvested hay containing a large amount of Kochia. It has been linked to photosensitivity in livestock as well.
