14 

 Madia minima 



SPECIES INFORMATION 



A. CLASSIFICATION 



1. SCIENTIFIC NAME: Madia minima (Gray) Keck. 



2. COMMON NAME: small head tarweed. 



3. FAMILY: Asteraceae (=Compositae, Sunflower 

 Family) . 



4. GENUS: There are approximately 17 species of 

 Madia native to western North America and Chile 

 (Hitchcock et al. 1955-1969) . According to Dorn 

 (1984) , four of these species occur in Montana. 



5. SPECIES: Madia minima commonly occurs with Madia 

 exigua in Montana. Technically, it is 

 distinguished from the latter by the possession of 

 achenes that are compressed at right angles to a 

 radius of the head (unique in the genus) , and 

 leaves which are mostly or all opposite (Hitchcock 

 et al. 1955-1969) . 



B. PRESENT LEGAL OR OTHER FORMAL STATUS 



1. FEDERAL STATUS 



a. U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: None. 



b. U.S. FOREST SERVICE:/ None. 



2. STATE: Madia minima is currently listed by the 

 Montana Natural Heritage Program (Shelly 1989) as 

 apparently secure globally (global rank = G4) . In 

 Montana, it is listed as "critically imperiled 

 because of extreme rarity" (state rank = SI) . The 

 Montana populations of M. minima are at the 

 periphery of the main range of the species, which 

 lies to the west. 



None of the state ranks listed above currently 

 provide any direct legal protection for M. minima . 



