IDENTIFICATION
Annual or occasionally biennial.
This plant is called tarweed because of its sticky, glandular texture.
It has dense foliage and an abundance of yellow flowers in clusters at
the tips of stems, the ends of branches, and in the angle where the leaves
meet the branches. Leaves are narrow, lance-shaped, and partially enclose
flowers. The entire plant is sticky and hairy, and has an exceptionally
foul, disagreeable odour.
DAMAGE
Coast tarweed is a nuisance because of the sticky (tar) substance
it produces. It is difficult to clean from clothing and the hair or fur
of pets and grazing animals.
HABITAT
Coast tarweed occurs along dry roadsides and in disturbed areas,
on dry hillsides, and on overgrazed rangeland. It is present in the Kootenay,
Thompson, Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, Cariboo, and Omineca regions
and infrequently in southern BC.
SPREAD
Coast tarweed is a prolific seed producer.
