Mentzelia eremophila |
Mentzelia procera |
|
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pinyon blazing star, solitary blazing star |
upright blazingstar |
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Habit | Plants candelabra-form, (7–)30–50(–60) cm. | Plants biennial, usually candelabra-form, rarely bushlike. |
Stems | solitary, erect, straight; branches distal or occasionally along entire stem, distal or proximal longest, antrorse, straight or upcurved; hairy. |
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Leaves | blade 38.3–108 × 5.3–14.9 mm, widest intersinus distance 1.7–3.9 mm; proximal oblanceolate to elliptic, margins pinnate, lobes 14–22(–26), perpendicular to leaf axis, 1.8–4.5 mm; distal elliptic to lanceolate, base not clasping, margins pinnate, lobes 6–18, perpendicular to leaf axis, 1.3–4.5 mm; abaxial surface with simple grappling-hook, complex grappling-hook, and occasionally needlelike trichomes, adaxial surface with simple grappling-hook and needlelike trichomes. |
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Basal leaves | persisting; petiole present or absent; blade linear-lanceolate to linear, margins very deeply lobed, lobes slender. |
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Cauline leaves | petiole absent; blade ovate-lanceolate to linear, to 15 cm, margins deeply to shallowly lobed or entire. |
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Bracts | green, ovate to lanceolate, 4.8–12.4 × 0.9–3.5 mm, width 1/8–1/2 length, not concealing capsule, margins usually entire, rarely 2-lobed. |
margins entire or toothed to pinnate. |
Flowers | sepals (7–)9–16 mm; petals yellow, 12–25 mm, apex acute or mucronate; stamens 20+, 3–10 mm, filaments monomorphic, filiform, unlobed; styles 7–15 mm. |
petals light yellow, 9.5–16.8 × 3.4–5.6 mm, apex usually rounded, rarely acute, glabrous abaxially; stamens light yellow, 5 outermost petaloid, filaments narrowly spatulate, slightly clawed, 8.2–14.6 × 2.3–3.4 mm, without anthers, second whorl with anthers; anthers straight after dehiscence, epidermis smooth; styles 7.1–12.6 mm. |
Capsules | clavate, 19–40 × 2–3.5 mm, axillary curved to 270° at maturity, usually inconspicuously longitudinally ribbed. |
cup-shaped to cylindric, 9.8–18.8 × 5.2–7.3 mm, base tapering, not longitudinally ridged. |
Seeds | 30–60, in 2+ rows distal to mid fruit, tan, usually dark-mottled, usually irregularly polygonal, occasionally triangular prisms proximal to mid fruit, surface colliculate under 10x magnification; recurved flap over hilum usually present; seed coat cell outer periclinal wall domed, domes on seed edges less than 1/2 as tall as wide at maturity. |
coat anticlinal cell walls sinuous, papillae 28–68 per cell. |
2n | = 18. |
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Mentzelia eremophila |
Mentzelia procera |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–May. | Flowering Jul–Aug. |
Habitat | Rocky slopes, washes, canyons, creosote-bush scrub. | Dry hillsides, roadcuts, roadsides, sandy, clayey, or silty soils. |
Elevation | 600–1300 m. (2000–4300 ft.) | 1400–2500 m. (4600–8200 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA
|
AZ; CO; NM; n Mexico |
Discussion | Mentzelia eremophila is narrowly distributed in eastern Kern and northwestern San Bernardino counties. It is morphologically similar and closely related to M. nitens (J. M. Brokaw and L. Hufford 2010). However, M. eremophila generally has longer sepals, petals, and styles, and populations of M. nitens have not been found south of Inyo County in California. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 537. | FNA vol. 12, p. 523. |
Parent taxa | Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Trachyphytum | Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Bartonia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | M. lindleyi var. eremophila | Nuttallia procera, M. pumila var. procera |
Name authority | (Jepson) H. J. Thompson & J. E. Roberts: Phytologia 21: 281. (1971) | (Wooton & Standley) J. J. Schenk & L. Hufford: Madroño 57: 247. (2010) |
Web links |