Madia radiata

Showy golden madia, Showy Golden Madia

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1

Showy golden madia is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native annual found in the San Joaquin Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, and southern coastal ranges in grassy or open slopes at elevations of 20 to 1,200 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces golden yellow ray flowers up to 19 millimeters long with showy heads arranged in open, flat-topped clusters. Growing 10 to 90 centimeters tall with glandular-hairy stems that often have lateral branches exceeding the main stem, it displays a distinctive branching pattern. Its leaves are narrow and lance-shaped, measuring 2 to 10 centimeters long and 4 to 15 millimeters wide, with soft glandular hairs bearing yellow or purple glands. The fruits are uniquely compressed and strongly arched, ranging from black to purple or mottled, with curved beaks that are offset along the ray flowers.

Habitat: Grassy or open slopes, vertic clay, rarely serpentine

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 20-1200 m

Bioregions: SnJV/SnFrB, SCoRI.

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