The New International Encyclopædia/Madia

MA′DIA (Neo-Lat., from madi, the Chilean name), Madia. A genus of annual upright plants of the natural order Compositæ. The yellow ray flowers are shortly ligulate, those of the disk tubular; the seeds without pappus but very viscid, rich in oil which is expressed. Madia sativa, which attains a height of three to five feet, is cultivated under the names madi or melosa in Chile, where it is native and from whence, early in the nineteenth century, it was taken to Europe, where it has been cultivated to some extent since 1839 as an oil plant, Madia oil is richer than poppy oil, almost entirely inodorous, of a bland, agreeable taste, and very suitable for oiling machines, as it does not solidify even at 10° F. The oil-cake is a good food for cattle. The flowers ripen gradually in succession, so that they first ripen their seeds which fall off before the last flowers open, a great disadvantage in a crop. Another species, Madia elegans, is cultivated in flower-gardens.