Madia sativa Molina
Chilean tar weed
Erect, aromatic annual, c. 20-200 cm high. Stems branched above to form infl., moderately to densely clothed in long eglandular and short-stalked glandular hairs especially above, usually becoming almost glabrous toward base. Lower and mid cauline lvs moderately to densely hairy and glandular, alternate except at very base of stem, apetiolate, linear to lanceolate, broad and entire at base, (15)-60-150 × (2)-5-10 mm. Upper cauline lvs similar to lower but becoming smaller, narrowly ovate-triangular and generally more viscid, not usually exceeding capitula at least in upper part of infl. Capitula in loose racemes or corymbs, only appearing clustered when in bud, (10)-15-20 mm diam. Involucral bracts 5-15, 6-9 mm long, clothed in conspicuous stalked glandular hairs and usually shorter eglandular hairs, enclosing ray achenes. Receptacle glabrous; scales hairy toward apex, partly united. Ray florets 5-11; ligules deeply 3-fid, golden but fading when dryed. Disc florets mostly fertile, 5-many, golden. Achenes laterally compressed, often with a rib on lateral faces, glabrous, light to dark brown and often speckled, 3.5-4.5 mm long; pappus 0.
S.: Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago.
W. North America, Chile, Argentina 1878
Waste places, coastal sites, cultivated land and pasture.
FL (Aug)-Nov-May.
Plants of M. sativa vary considerably in stature with smaller plants sometimes having fewer ray florets and fewer fertile disc florets. Allan (1940) noted that among naturalised plants the broad-leaved cultivated form is commoner than the narrow-leaved wild one. Healy, A. J., Trans. Proc. N.Z. Inst. 84 : 655 (1957), accepted 2 vars for N.Z.: the typical var., and var. congesta Torrey et A. Gray (published in error as var. aggregata Torrey et A. Gray). The specimens cited by Healy and those in CHR determined by him as M. sativa var. congesta are all referable to typical M. sativa. Most recent treatments of Madia accord var. congesta specific rank, as M. capitata Nutt. M. sativa has been previously recorded in N.Z. as M. sativa var. viscosa and M. viscosa.
