Mentzelia floridana |
Mentzelia albescens |
|
---|---|---|
Florida stickleaf, poorman's patch, poorman's patches |
wavy-leaf blazingstar |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, with caudices. | Plants biennial, candelabra-form. |
Stems | erect, becoming decumbent, to 60 cm. |
solitary, erect, straight; branches distal, distal longest, antrorse, straight; hairy. |
Leaves | petiole to 25 mm; blade usually hastate or ovate, distal sometimes elliptic, basally lobed or unlobed, to 8.4 × 5.5 cm, base usually truncate, sometimes obtusely cuneate, margins usually serrate or dentate to crenate, sometimes entire, apex acute. |
blade 31–92(–157) × 10.5–27.6(–41) mm, widest intersinus distance 5.2–23.3(–29) mm; proximal lanceolate or elliptic, margins serrate to pinnate, teeth or lobes 8–22, slightly antrorse, 1.8–6 mm; distal lanceolate, base clasping, margins usually serrate to pinnate, occasionally entire, teeth or lobes (0–)10–20, slightly antrorse, 1.4–7.6 mm; abaxial surface with simple grappling-hook, complex grappling-hook, and needlelike trichomes, adaxial surface with simple grappling-hook and needlelike trichomes. |
Bracts | margins entire. |
|
Pedicels | (fruiting) 0.6–4 × less than 1 mm. |
|
Flowers | petals creamy yellow to orange, 6.5–13 × 3.5–7 mm, apex cuspidate, hairy on apex; stamens 20–35, 6–11 mm, filaments heteromorphic, 5 outermost narrowly spatulate, inner filiform; style 8–10 mm. |
petals golden yellow, 5.7–9.2 × 1.3–3 mm, apex usually acute, occasionally rounded, glabrous abaxially; stamens golden yellow, 5 outermost petaloid, filaments narrowly spatulate, slightly clawed, 4.7–8.4 × 1–2.4 mm, without anthers, second whorl with anthers; anthers straight after dehiscence, epidermis smooth; styles 3.5–5.4 mm. |
Capsules | usually lingulate to funnelform, rarely ovoid, 10–18 × 4–5.8 mm, base rounded or cuneate, capsule and pedicel well-differentiated. |
cylindric, 13.6–23.5 × 5.1–7.8 mm, base tapering, not or slightly longitudinally ridged. |
Seeds | (4–)6–8 per capsule, pyriform, without transverse folds. |
coat anticlinal cell walls straight, papillae 4–17 per cell. |
2n | = 20. |
= 22. |
Mentzelia floridana |
Mentzelia albescens |
|
Phenology | Flowering Sep–May. | Flowering May–Nov. |
Habitat | Beaches, dunes, sand flats along ocean and rivers, coastal hammocks, disturbed areas, roadsides, shell mounds. | Dry grasslands, xeric habitats of arroyos, roadsides, roadcuts, washes, chat piles, slopes. |
Elevation | 0–10 m. (0–0 ft.) | 200–1600 m. (700–5200 ft.) |
Distribution |
FL; West Indies (Bahamas) |
KS; MO; OK; TX; South America (Argentina, Chile) |
Discussion | Mentzelia floridana, which is widespread in peninsular Florida, belongs to a clade restricted to the Gulf coastal and Caribbean region; it is most closely related to M. gracilis Urban & Gilg of Mexico and to M. lindheimeri of Texas. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Phylogenetic analyses (J. J. Schenk and L. Hufford 2011) recovered representative populations of Mentzelia albescens from Texas and South America in a monophyletic group. Phylogenetic placement of these populations among lineages in sect. Bartonia, as well as a lack of morphological differentiation among North American and South American populations, suggests a recent dispersal to South America. In the flora area, this species is native to central and western Texas, and introduced in Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 528. | FNA vol. 12, p. 518. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Bartonia albescens, B. wrightii | |
Name authority | Nuttall ex Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 533. (1840) | (Gillies ex Arnott) Bentham & Hooker f. ex Grisebach: Abh. Königl. Ges. Wiss. Göttingen 19: 150. (1874) |
Web links |