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Madia sativa

Common name:	Chile Tarweed	Family:	Compositae
Author:	Molina.	Botanical references:	69, 200
Synonyms:	Madia viscosa (Cav.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	S. America - Chile.
Habitat:	Sand, gravel, open grassland and disturbed soils[69].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	M. capitata[B,P] M. sativa ssp. capitata[B,P] M. sativa var. congesta[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Chilean Tarplant [B], Coast Tarweed [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	sativa = cultivated
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Asterales. Renamed to Asteraceae -- Aster family
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: Colorado.

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.75m. . It is in flower from July to August, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Oil Seed.

Seed - raw or cooked[257]. Although quite small, the seed was a staple food for some native North American Indian tribes[257]. Rich in oil, it can be roasted then ground into a powder and eaten dry, mixed with water, or combined with cereal flours[94, 94, 183, 257]. The seed was also used as piñ ole[257].
The seed contains about 41% of a sweet edible oil, about 28% can be extracted from the seed in an oil press[2, 46, 61]. Of a high quality, it can be used as a substitute for olive oil[2, 183]. The oil does not solidify until the temperature drops to -11° c[95].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Oil.

The seed is rich in an oil which is a good substitute for olive oil. It does not solidify until the temperature is lower than -11° c. A good lubricant, the oil is also used in soap making[94, 95].

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant[2], it succeeds in any good garden soil[1]. Prefers a deep open sharply drained soil in a sunny position[200].
This species is sometimes cultivated in Europe for the oil in its seed[2].
The flowers open in the morning or evening, closing when exposed to bright sunlight[200].

Propagation

Seed - sow in mid spring in situ and only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within a couple of weeks.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[69] Moore. D. M. Flora of Tierra del Fuego. Anthony Nelson. 1983 ISBN 0-904614-05-0
Standard work for this part of S. America. Excellent details of habitat and a few notes on plant uses.

[94] Sweet. M. Common Edible and Useful Plants of the West. Naturegraph Co. 1962 ISBN 0-911010-54-8
Useful wild plants in Western N. America. A pocket guide.

[95] Saunders. C. F. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications 1976 ISBN 0-486-23310-3
Useful wild plants of America. A pocket guide.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

Madia sativa

Cristian Youlton (cristianyoulton@hotmail.com) Mon Jul 29 08:14:42 2002

Link: Plantas Medicinales uses, propieties, history, enviromental requeriments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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