Madia gracilis
Madia citrigracilis
common tarweed, grassy tarplant, grassy tarweed, gumweed, slender tarweed
Shasta tarweed
proximally pilose to hirsute, distally glandular-pubescent, glands yelloish, purple, or black, lateral branches seldom surpassing main stems.
hirsute to villous, distally glandular-pubescent, glands yellowish, purple, or black, lateral branches often surpassing main stems (in large plants).
blades oblong to linear, 1–10(–15) cm × 1–8(–10) mm.
blades lanceolate to linear-oblong or linear, 3–15 cm × 2–14 mm.
depressed-globose to urceolate, 5–10 mm.
± globose to ovoid or obovoid, 6–8 mm.
3–10;
corollas lemon yellow or greenish yellow, laminae 1.5–8 mm.
5–8(–14);
corollas pale yellow or greenish yellow, laminae 6–8 mm.
2–16+, bisexual, fertile;
corollas 2.5–5 mm, pubescent;
anthers ± dark purple.
3–10(–30), bisexual, fertile;
corollas 2.5–3.5 mm, pubescent;
anthers ± dark purple.
sometimes hirsute, always finely or coarsely glandular-pubescent, glands yellowish, purple, or black, apices erect or ± reflexed, flat.
hirsute and glandular-pubescent, glands yellowish, purple, or black, apices erect or ± reflexed, flat.
in ± open, paniculiform or racemiform arrays.
in open, corymbiform arrays.
similar.
similar.
black, purple, or mottled, dull, compressed, beakless (or nearly so).
black or brown, sometimes mottled, dull, compressed, beakless (or nearly so).
mostly persistent, connate 1/2+ their lengths.
mostly persistent, mostly connate 1/2+ their lengths.
= 32, 48.
= 48.
Madia gracilis
Madia citrigracilis
Madia gracilis occurs widely in California (except the warm deserts), is scattered across much of Nevada, Oregon, and Washington (outside the driest regions), and extends into southernmost British Columbia, north-western Montana, and northern Utah. Near the coast, M. gracilis sometimes co-occurs with M. sativa; the two species are partially interfertile (M. gracilis tends to flower earlier than M. sativa; J. Clausen 1951). Reported occurrences of M. gracilis in Maine and South America have not been confirmed.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Madia citrigracilis occurs in northeastern California and northern Nevada. Small or young plants can be exceedingly difficult to distinguish morphologically from M. gracilis, which is one of two putative parental species suggested by J. Clausen et al. (1945) to have been involved in the hybrid (allopolyploid) origin of M. citrigracilis. Molecular data reinforce Clausen et al.’s hypothesis that M. citrigracilis is evolutionarily distinct from M. gracilis.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- 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
