Mountain Tarweed Madia glomerata Aster family (Asteraceae)
Tarweed is a native North American species that is not native to, but too often found in, Colorado. This ill-scented, tar-scented species is memorable. Flowers are tiny and the stink is massive. You probably first become aware of the plant as you walk through patches of it and the smell invades your pores from the crushed plants. The are fertile and only of female parts; the flowers are also fertile and . The plant is often covered with dirt and sand particles because it is so sticky. "Madia" is a Chilean name for the plant.
-sticky with numerous stems to 18" forming large colonies of tar-scented plants. Stems leafy, below, above, short, or narrowly . about twice as long as wide, . 0-2, petals tiny, about 1/25" long, yellow or purple. Flowerheads many, crowded into a mass ("") near the ends of branches. 8-12 flowers. No hairs. , angled, or flattened on the .
