''Harmonia doris-nilesiae'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

known by the common names serpentine tarweed and Niles' madia. This plant was first described in science in 1985, when it was named ''Madia doris-nilesiae'' after the California botanist and teacher Doris Niles.CalFlora Botanical Names
/ref> It and several others were moved to the new genus ''

Harmonia In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; grc, Ἁρμονία / harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Roman counterpart is Concordia. Her Greek opposite is Eris, whose Roman counterpart is Discord ...

'' in 1999.

Description

''Harmonia doris-nilesiae'' is an annual herb growing up to about 26 centimetres tall; its upper branches are bristly and glandular. The bristly, toothed leaves are up to 4 centimetres long. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

bears several

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

on long, thin peduncles. Each head has yellow disc florets tipped with yellow anthers and 4 to 8 bright yellow ray florets, each a few millimeters long. The fruit is a black

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

with a small pappus.

Distribution

''Harmonia doris-nilesiae'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the southern Klamath Mountains of far northern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where it grows in

serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Harmonia doris-nilesiae''USDA Plants Profile: ''Harmonia doris-nilesiae''''Harmonia doris-nilesiae'' — U.C. Photo gallery
Madieae Endemic flora of California Flora of the Klamath Mountains Plants described in 1985 Natural history of Siskiyou County, California Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Asteroideae-stub