Madia citriodora

Lemon scented tarweed

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Lemon scented tarweed is a California native annual found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada, Sacramento Valley, and Modoc Plateau in open or disturbed sites, often on stony or clayey soils at elevations of 30 to 1,600 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces green-yellow ray flowers 4 to 11 millimeters long with dark purple disk flowers in open, flat-topped clusters. Growing 10 to 70 centimeters tall with lateral branches often exceeding the main stem, it has stems that are soft to coarse-hairy proximally and glandular-hairy distally, with distinctive purple glands. Its linear leaves are 2 to 9 centimeters long and 1 to 10 millimeters wide, arranged along the stem with varying hairiness. The fruit is black or brown, glossy, and widely three-angled with a nearly beakless appearance.

Habitat: Open or disturbed sites, often stony or clayey soils

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 30-1600 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRI, CaR, n SN, ScV, MP

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.