I noticed this on Galiano Island on the weekend. At a glance - from colour, shape, location and habit - an ordinary hawkweed, but on closer inspection something I hadn't noticed before. We couldn't identify it from Pojar & MacKinnon - the distinct 3-lobed ray flowers resemble Microseris borealis but that lacks the distinct disk and the pictured plant is in dryish areas. A web search left me more confused than before - the ray and disk flowers strongly resemble Bidens torta, but not quite, and I gather Bidens prefer moister areas too.
Thanks, that looks closer than anything else I could find, lobed ray flowers & urn-shaped involucre. However, the leaves on the one I found are opposite, not alternate. They're also distinctly hairy, now I look at the stem we pressed. Maybe m. elegans?
Yes, you're right -- it's not what was suggested. How close to human habitation is this? I think we might be moving out of the realms of native plants with it.
The madia madiodes photos look like what we have on Galiano, and the description in Wikipedia tallies. So, maybe a native plant after all. As for the possibility of it being introduced ... I know of no truly undisturbed place on the island. We built a cabin in a lovely bit of forest, but it was selectively logged (aka "high-graded") in the 1940s or 1950s and there are relatively developed areas not far away. We were thrilled last year to find a wild orchid in what seemed like an isolated spot, but we finally identified it as Epipactis helleborine (broadleaf helleborine) which apparently is native to Europe and introduced to southern Vancouver Islands early last century. I very much appreciate your taking the time to reply to me. I don't know much about plants but do try to take an interest in my surroundings.
Looks like a Native Hawkweed, unlike the invasive Orange Hawkweed in the Rose Gardens at Queen Elizabeth Park. Its crazy how you can watch the gardeners work their way right by them.
