All About Tarweed

The Chile tarweed, or madia sativa, member of the sunflower family, is native to Chile and California. Just like me. Well, I’m not actually native to Chile. My official status is permanent resident. The weed and I first met at Phoenix Lake in my home county of Marin. I was drawn by a familiar, pungent scent that, to me, was the very essence of those hills. I broke off a shaggy, sticky twig that bore tiny yellow flowers and identified it in a book of native plants. Later I found it growing in the foothills around Santiago. I, like the tarweed, have put down roots in both countries.