Mentzelia aspera |
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dal-pega, rough stickleaf, tropical blazingstar, tropical stickleaf |
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Habit | Plants annual, without caudices or tubers. |
Stems | erect to decumbent, to 30 cm. |
Leaves | petiole 10–65 mm; blade hastate to ovate, usually basally lobed, sometimes unlobed, to 18 × 10 cm, base cuneate to truncate, margins serrate to crenate, apex acute. |
Pedicels | (fruiting) 1–3 × 2 mm (often appearing absent because thick and continuous with capsule). |
Flowers | petals orange or yellow, 5–15 × 3–7 mm, apex cuspidate, hairy abaxially at apex; stamens 20–30, 5 mm, filaments heteromorphic, 5 outermost narrowly spatulate, inner filiform; style 5 mm. |
Capsules | subcylindric to clavate, 9–30 × 3–3.5 mm, base tapering gradually, capsule and pedicel not well-differentiated. |
Seeds | 5–9 per capsule, pyriform to oblong, without transverse folds. |
2n | = 20. |
Mentzelia aspera |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug–Oct. |
Habitat | Arroyo and canyon bottoms, grasslands, desert scrub, riparian cottonwood and willow vegetation. |
Elevation | 100–2000 m. (300–6600 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in Atlantic Islands (Cape Verde Islands)]
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Discussion | Mentzelia aspera is uncommon in southern Arizona. It is the most widespread species of the genus and is regarded as weedy by some authors (H. J. Thompson and A. M. Powell 1981). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 528. |
Parent taxa | Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Mentzelia |
Sibling taxa | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 516. (1753) |
Web links |