Madia exigua

Little tarweed

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Little tarweed is a California native annual herb found in the California Floristic Province, including grasslands, open areas, and disturbed sites with sandy or clayey soils at elevations of 30 to 2,500 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces pale yellow ray flowers with golden yellow glandular heads that are small and not particularly showy. Growing with slender stems 1 to 30 centimeters tall, the plant is characterized by coarse and glandular-hairy stems with occasional lateral branches that may exceed the main stem. Its leaves are extremely narrow, linear, and measuring just 0.2 to 4 centimeters long and 0.5 to 2 millimeters wide. The fruit is distinctive, with ray fruits that are compressed, strongly arched, and black or brown with a curved beak.

Habitat: Grassy, open, or disturbed sites, in sandy or clayey soils, including serpentine

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 30-2500 m

Bioregions: CA-FP (exc s SNF, Teh, SnJV, SCo, SnJt), MP

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