Plant Species: Madia exigua, little tarweed
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Magnoliophyta -- flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida -- dicotyledons
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae -- sunflower
Genus: Madia
Species: exigua
Common Name: little tarweed, small tarweed
Species Code: MAEX
Origin: Native to dry, open grasslands and open forests of southern British Columbia south to California and east to Nevada and western Montana.
Rare: no
Form: forb, annual from a slender taproot, erect, branched above, 5-30 cm tall, glandular and hirsute overall.
Mature height: 2-12 inches
Duration: annual
Longevity: annual
Habitat Type: prairie
Wetland Indicator Status: not listed
Leaves: mostly alternate, entire, linear, 1-4 cm long.
Flowers: heads solitary, terminal; involucre nearly globose, hairy, glandular, 2.5-4.5 mm tall, composed of 4-8 strongly glandular bracts; rays yellow, inconspicuous, pistillate; disc flower yellow, solitary, perfect.
Flower color: yellow
Bloom: June
Bloom starts on: early June
Bloom ends on: late June
Fruit: achene, compressed, 1.8-2.8 mm long, brown to black, pappus lacking.
Vegetation type:
Characteristics:
Plant is an annual reproducing by seed.
Fruit is an achene.
n=16 (Hitchcock et al 1969, Flora of North America Editorial Committee 1993, Baldwin et al 2004).
Ray flowers are pistillate and fertile, the single disc flower is perfect.
Plants are self-compatible (Flora of North America Editorial Committee 1993).
Comments:
Sun requirement: full
Soil moisture: xeric
Precipitation:
Fire:
Hazards:
Sowing time: No information available.
Transplant time: not recommended
Stratification: No information available.
Seed yield: low.
Seed harvest: difficult
Seed first harvest: annual
Seed cleaning: No information available.
Planting duration: annual
Seed insect problem: No information available.
Seed shatter: No information available.
Seed size: medium
Seed harvest date: No information available.
Seed comments:
Keywords: native uplant annual forb
Alternate Genus:
Alternate Species:
Alternate Variety:
Propagation:
No information is available.
Reproduces sexually by seed.
Notes:
References:
Baldwin, B.G., S. Boyd, B.J. Ertter, D.J. Keil, R.W. Patterson, T.J. Rosatti, and D.H. Wilken (eds). 2004. Jepson Online Interchange for California Floristics. University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, CA. Accessed 11/22/09 online at http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/interchange.html
Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. 7+ vols. New York and Oxford. Oxford University Press. Online at http://www.fna.org/FNA/
Hitchcock, C. Leo, Arthur Cronquist, Marion Ownbey, and J.W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press. Seattle, WA. Volume 5, Asteraceae.