Duration: Annual

Nativity: Non-Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Herbaceous annuals, low-growing.

Leaves: Opposite, entire to pinnatifid.

Flowers: Heads small, radiate, rays yellow, inconspicuous, usually not more than 2 mm long, pistillate, disk flowers perfect, involucres 2-6 mm wide, receptacles bracteate, phyllaries herbaceous, 4-5.

Fruits: Achenes obovate-oblong, not hooked or beaked at the apex. Pappus absent.

Ecology: Found in openings in pine forests, from 4,000-5,500 ft (1219-1676 m); flowering August-September.

Distribution: Arizona; Mexico.

Notes: A good identifier for this species is the achenes which are not hooked or beaked at the apex.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Etymology: Melampodium comes from Melampus, a soothsayer of renown in Greek mythology, while sericeum means silky.

Synonyms: Melampodium hispidum, Melampodium sericeum var. brevipes, Melampodium sericeum var. exappendiculatum

Editor: LCrumbacher 2011