Mentzelia decapetala |
Mentzelia crocea |
|
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10-petal western star, evening starflower, gumbo-lily, tenpetal blazingstar |
saffron blazing star, Sierra blazingstar |
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Habit | Plants biennial or perennial, bushlike, perennials with ground-level caudices. | Plants candelabra-form, 30–70(–100) cm. |
Stems | solitary, erect, straight; branches distal or along entire stem, proximal or distal longest, antrorse, straight to upcurved; hairy. |
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Leaves | blade 72–295 × 14–45 mm, widest intersinus distance 10.1–23.3 mm; proximal oblanceolate or elliptic, margins serrate to pinnate, teeth or lobes 16–26, slightly antrorse, 1–16.5 mm; distal elliptic to lanceolate, base clasping or not, margins serrate to pinnate, teeth or lobes 9–20, slightly antrorse, 5.3–13.7 mm; surfaces with needlelike trichomes. |
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Basal leaves | persisting; petiole present or absent; blade lanceolate to linear, margins usually shallowly, rarely deeply, lobed. |
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Cauline leaves | petiole absent; blade ovate to lanceolate, to 40 cm, margins deeply to shallowly lobed. |
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Bracts | margins pinnate. |
green, broadly ovate to lanceolate, 6–12.7 × 3.5–7.7 mm, width 1/2–4/5 length, not concealing capsule, margins 3–10-lobed. |
Flowers | petals white, 47–75 × 13–22.7 mm, apex acute to attenuate, glabrous abaxially; stamens white to yellow, 5 outermost petaloid, filaments spatulate, strongly clawed, 48–75 × 12–23 mm, without anthers, second whorl with anthers; anthers straight after dehiscence, epidermis smooth; styles 36–53 mm. |
sepals 7–20 mm; petals usually orange, rarely yellow, proximally, yellow distally, usually elliptic to ovate, rarely obovate, 21–42 × 8–17(–21) mm, apex acute; stamens 20+, 11–40 mm, filaments heteromorphic, 5 outermost linear, inner filiform, unlobed; styles 20–35 mm. |
Capsules | cylindric, 30–43 × 12–17 mm, base tapering, not longitudinally ridged. |
clavate, 20–35 × 3–5 mm, axillary curved to 45° at maturity, usually inconspicuously longitudinally ribbed. |
Seeds | 2.3–4 mm; coat anticlinal cell walls straight, papillae 4–10 per cell. |
30–40, in 2+ rows distal to mid fruit, tan, dark-mottled, irregularly polygonal, surface minutely tessellate under 10x magnification; recurved flap over hilum absent; seed coat cell outer periclinal wall domed, domes on seed edges less than 1/2 as tall as wide at maturity. |
2n | = 22. |
= 36. |
Mentzelia decapetala |
Mentzelia crocea |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug(–Oct). | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Rock outcrops, slopes, dry short-grass prairies, riverbanks, roadsides, loam, limestone, sandy, silty, clayey, and gravelly soils. | Rocky slopes, roadsides, grasslands, oak-pine woodlands. |
Elevation | 300–2400 m. (1000–7900 ft.) | 150–1700 m. (500–5600 ft.) |
Distribution |
CO; IA; IL; KS; MN; MT; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; UT; WY; AB; MB; SK
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CA |
Discussion | Mentzelia decapetala is introduced in Grundy County, Illinois. It appears to be native throughout the rest of its distribution. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Mentzelia crocea and M. lindleyi are very similar morphologically and are most reliably distinguished geographically, with M. crocea occurring on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada and M. lindleyi occurring in the Coast Ranges. Low fertility of interspecific crosses supports recognition as separate species (H. J. Thompson 1960), which has been substantiated by genetic differences and non-sister relationships of the two species (J. M. Brokaw and L. Hufford 2010b). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 504. | FNA vol. 12, p. 536. |
Parent taxa | Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Bartonia | Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Trachyphytum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Bartonia decapetala | M. lindleyi subsp. crocea |
Name authority | (Pursh) Urban: Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Ges. 10: 263. (1892) | Kellogg: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 7: 110. (1877) |
Web links |