Burke: Madia gracilis vs. Madia elegans

	Madia gracilis	Madia elegans
	grassy tarplant, common tarweed, slender tarweed	common madia, autumn showy tarweed
Habit	Tar-scented, rough-hairy annual, 1-10 dm. tall, often the whole upper part of the plant covered with conspicuous stalked glands.	Tar-scented, coarse annual, 2-12 dm. tall, covered with short, stiff hairs throughout and stalked glands at least above.
Leaves	Leaves linear to linear-oblong, 2-11 cm. long and 1-10 mm. wide.	Leaves linear to lanceolate, entire, the lower 3-20 cm. long and 1.5-20 mm. wide, the middle and upper leaves reduced.
Flowers	Heads in a raceme, or multiple racemes in plants with branched stems; involucre ovoid, 6-11 mm. high and 5-10 mm. wide, its bracts in a single series and of equal length; rays 5-13, typically 8, 4-7 mm. long, pistillate and fertile, yellow, their achenes enclosed by the involucral bracts; disk flowers fertile, yellow, separated from the ray flowers by a row of bracts; pappus none.	Heads several in an open inflorescence, the lateral branches often topping the central; involucre hemispheric, 7-11 mm. high, the bracts in a single series, equal, the flat tips of the bracts well developed, the lower portion clasping the ray achene; rays about 13, 10-17 mm. long, pistillate and fertile, yellow, often with a basal maroon blotch; disk flowers sterile, yellow, surrounded by a cup of united bracts attached to the receptacle, which is covered with erect, straight hairs; pappus none.
Fruits	Achenes flattened.	Ray achenes flattened.

	Madia gracilis	Madia elegans
Flowering time	June-August	July-September
Habitat	Dry, open areas from shrub-steppe to middle elevations in the mountains.	Dry, open places, often becoming a roadside weed.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring chiefly in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; south-central Washington to California. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	M. citriodora, M. elegans, M. exigua, M. glomerata, M. sativa	M. citriodora, M. exigua, M. glomerata, M. gracilis, M. sativa
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Madia elegans

grassy tarplant, common tarweed, slender tarweed

common madia, autumn showy tarweed

Habit

Tar-scented, rough-hairy annual, 1-10 dm. tall, often the whole upper part of the plant covered with conspicuous stalked glands.

Tar-scented, coarse annual, 2-12 dm. tall, covered with short, stiff hairs throughout and stalked glands at least above.

Leaves

Leaves linear to linear-oblong, 2-11 cm. long and 1-10 mm. wide.

Leaves linear to lanceolate, entire, the lower 3-20 cm. long and 1.5-20 mm. wide, the middle and upper leaves reduced.

Flowers

Heads in a raceme, or multiple racemes in plants with branched stems;

involucre ovoid, 6-11 mm. high and 5-10 mm. wide, its bracts in a single series and of equal length;

rays 5-13, typically 8, 4-7 mm. long, pistillate and fertile, yellow, their achenes enclosed by the involucral bracts;

disk flowers fertile, yellow, separated from the ray flowers by a row of bracts;

pappus none.

Heads several in an open inflorescence, the lateral branches often topping the central;

involucre hemispheric, 7-11 mm. high, the bracts in a single series, equal, the flat tips of the bracts well developed, the lower portion clasping the ray achene;

rays about 13, 10-17 mm. long, pistillate and fertile, yellow, often with a basal maroon blotch; disk flowers sterile, yellow, surrounded by a cup of united bracts attached to the receptacle, which is covered with erect, straight hairs;

pappus none.

Fruits

Achenes flattened.

Ray achenes flattened.