''Madia sativa'', known by the common names coast tarweed and Chilean tarweed, 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 ...

found in parts of western North and South America.

Distribution

''Madia sativa'' is native to the Americas, where it is distributed in two main areas: *The west coast of North America from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

and

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, through all the western mountain ranges of

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 ...

, to

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. *

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The plant grows in many types of

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s, including disturbed areas. In western North America it is most common on coastal

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

s and nearby areas.

Description

''Madia sativa'' is an annual herb varying in size from 20 centimeters tall to well over two meters, the leafy stem branching or not. It is coated densely in sticky resin glands and it has a strong scent. The hairy leaves are linear or lance-shaped, the lowest up to 18 centimeters 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 ...

is generally a cluster of

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 ...

lined with bristly, glandular

phyllaries In botanical terminology, a phyllary, also known an involucral bract or tegule, is a single bract of the involucre of a composite flower. The involucre is the grouping of bracts together. Phyllaries are reduced leaf-like structures that form one or ...

. Each head bears approximately 8 yellowish ray florets a few millimeters long around a center of several disc florets tipped with dark

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

. The fruit is a flat, hairless

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 no pappus. This plant has been grown for its seed oil.Flora of North America
/ref>

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Madia sativa'' (Coastal Tarweed)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Madia sativa''UC Photos gallery — ''Madia sativa''
* * {{-

sativa Sativa, sativus, and sativum are Latin botanical adjectives meaning '' cultivated''. It is often associated botanically with plants that promote good health and used to designate certain seed-grown domestic crops. Usage ''Sativa'' (ending in -a) ...

Flora of Alaska Flora of British Columbia Flora of the West Coast of the United States Flora of Baja California Flora of California Flora of Chile Flora of Argentina Chilean Matorral Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Flora without expected TNC conservation status