9.
Madia gracilis
(Smith) D. D. Keck, Madroño. 5: 169. 1940.
Gumweed
Sclerocarpus gracilis
Smith in A. Rees, Cycl. 31: Sclerocarpus no. 2. 1815;
Madia gracilis
subsp.
collina
D. D. Keck;
M. gracilis
subsp.
pilosa
D. D. Keck
Plants
6—100 cm, self-compatible (heads not showy).
Stems
prox-imally pilose to hirsute, distally glandular-pubescent, glands yel-lowish, purple, or black, lateral branches seldom surpassing main stems.
Leaf blades
oblong to linear, 1—10(—15) cm × 1—8(—10) mm.
Heads
in ± open, paniculiform or racemiform arrays.
Involucres
depressed-globose to urceolate, 5—10 mm.
Phyllaries
sometimes hirsute, always finely or coarsely glandular-pubescent, glands yellowish, purple, or black, apices erect or ± reflexed, flat.
Paleae
mostly persistent, connate
1
/2+ their lengths.
Ray florets
3—10; corollas lemon yellow or greenish yellow, laminae 1.5—8 mm.
Disc florets
2—16+, bisexual, fertile; corollas 2.5—5 mm, pubescent; anthers ± dark purple.
Ray cypselae
black, purple, or mottled, dull, compressed, beakless (or nearly so).
Disc cypselae
similar.
2
n
= 32, 48.
Flowering Apr—Aug. Open or partially shaded slopes or flats in grasslands, meadows, shrublands, woodlands, and forests, disturbed sites, stream banks, roadsides, coarse to fine textured soils, sometimes serpentine; 0—2500 m; B.C.; Calif., Idaho, Mont., Nev., Oreg., Utah, Wash.; Mexico (Baja California).
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.
