''Melampodium'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the sunflower family. These are rugged plants native to the tropical to subtropical regions that include

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Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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, the

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, and

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. Most of the species can be found in Mexico, five in the Southwestern United States, and three are scattered in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

.Flora of North America Vol. 21 Page 34 ''Melampodium'' Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 921. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 392. 1754.
/ref> Some sources say that the name ''Melampodium'' is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

words μέλας (''melas''), meaning "black", and πόδιον (''podion''), meaning "foot". This refers to the color of the base of the stem and roots. Members of the genus are commonly known as blackfoots. Other authorities, however, maintain that this is in error, that the name comes from

Melampus In Greek mythology, Melampus (; , ''Melampous'') was a legendary soothsayer and healer, originally of Pylos, who ruled at Argos. He was the introducer of the worship of Dionysus, according to Herodotus, who asserted that his powers as a seer ...

, a soothsayer of renown in

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

. The genus consists of annuals and

perennials In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

or bushy plants, growing to a height of 1 m. When fully grown, they tend to fall over. They like average, well-drained soil, but can equally grow on rocky soil in deserts. They are moderately to highly drought- and heat-tolerant. Three species of the so-called white-rayed complex are

xerophytic A xerophyte () is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water. Examples of xerophytes include cactus, cacti, pineapple and some gymnosperm plants. The morphology (biology), morphology and physiology ...

. The

foliage A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, f ...

varies from bright green to grey-green. The

opposite leaves In botany, phyllotaxis () or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaf, leaves on a plant stem. Phyllotactic spirals form a distinctive class of patterns in nature. Leaf arrangement The basic leaf#Arrangement on the stem, arrangements of leaves ...

are narrow and about 2–5 cm long. The terminal

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

heads are about 2.5 cm wide. They give a continuous display of white (only in the three species of the white-rayed complex), cream, or yellow daisylike ray florets, surrounding a darker orange center with the disc florets. These eight to 10 broad disc florets are functionally staminate. The five outer

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s are partially joined for about half their length. The numerous

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s are seed-like (they consist of inner involucral bracts each enclosing and fused with individual ray achenes), with a few narrow scales at their tip. They make this genus one of the most prolific of the summer annuals, with seedlings coming up constantly. The genus displays a large number of haploid

chromosome A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most import ...

numbers are based on 4 basic chromosome numbers (x = 9, 10, 11, 12). Several

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s of ''Melampodium leucanthum'' have been developed, such as 'Million Gold' and 'Showstar', mostly to achieve a more compact size. Note: ''Melampodium'' has been labelled '' Sanvitalia speciosa'' in the horticultural trade, but this is an invalid name.

Species

; Species * '' Melampodium americanum'' - Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico (from Tamaulipas to Chiapas)Berendsohn, W.G. & A.E. Araniva de González. 1989. Listado básico de la Flora Salvadorensis: Dicotyledonae, Sympetalae (pro parte): Labiatae, Bignoniaceae, Acanthaceae, Pedaliaceae, Martyniaceae, Gesneriaceae, Compositae. Cuscatlania 1(3): 290–1–290–13 * '' Melampodium appendiculatum'' - Chihuahua, Sonora, Nayarit, Arizona * '' Melampodium argophyllum'' - Coahuila, Nuevo León * '' Melampodium aureum'' - Puebla, Oaxaca * '' Melampodium bibractatum'' -

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, Guatemala * '' Melampodium cinereum'' - Coahuila, Nuevo León, Texas, Missouri * '' Melampodium costaricense'' - Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, Nicaragua, Colombia * '' Melampodium cupulatum'' - Sonora, Sinaloa, Jalisco, Baja California Sur * '' Melampodium diffusum'' - Oaxaca, Philippines (probably introduced) * '' Melampodium divaricatum'' - Brazil, Bolivia, West Indies, Venezuela, Colombia, Central America, Mexico, United States ( FL AL LA AR) * '' Melampodium glabribracteatum'' - Oaxaca * '' Melampodium glabrum'' - Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán * '' Melampodium gracile'' - Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Mexico (from Tamaulipas to Chiapas) * '' Melampodium leucanthum'' - Chihuahua, USA ( TX NM AZ OK KS CO) * '' Melampodium linearilobum'' - Mexico, Central America * '' Melampodium longicorne'' - Sonora, Arizona, New Mexico * '' Melampodium longifolium'' - Mexico * '' Melampodium longipes'' - Jalisco * '' Melampodium longipilum'' - from Guatemala to San Luis Potosí * '' Melampodium mayfieldii'' - Jalisco * '' Melampodium microcephalum'' - from Guatemala to Jalisco * '' Melampodium mimulifolium'' - Oaxaca * '' Melampodium montanum'' - from Guatemala to Jalisco + San Luis Potosí * '' Melampodium nayaritense'' - Durango, Nayarit * '' Melampodium northingtonii'' - Oaxaca * '' Melampodium nutans'' - Oaxaca, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán * '' Melampodium paniculatum'' - from Oaxaca to Brazil * '' Melampodium percussum'' * '' Melampodium perfoliatum'' - Mexico, Central America, Cuba, California * '' Melampodium pilosum'' - Guerrero, Michoacan * '' Melampodium pringlei'' - Oaxaca, Puebla * '' Melampodium repens'' - Veracruz * '' Melampodium rosei'' - Sinaloa, Jalisco, Nayarit * '' Melampodium sericeum'' - Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador * '' Melampodium sinaloense'' - Sinaloa * '' Melampodium sinuatum'' - Baja California Sur * '' Melampodium strigosum'' - Chihuahua, Durango, D.F., Mexico State, Hidalgo, United States ( AZ NM TX CO) * '' Melampodium tenellum'' - Nayarit * '' Melampodium tepicense'' - Nayarit, Jalisco

Formerly placed here

* '' Acanthospermum australe'' (Loefl.) Kuntze (as ''M. australe'' Loefl.) * '' Acanthospermum humile'' (Sw.) DC. (as ''M. humile'' Sw.) * '' Eleutheranthera ruderalis'' (Sw.) Sch.Bip. (as ''M. ruderale'' Sw.)

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1708544 Millerieae Asteraceae genera