Mentzelia humilis
Mentzelia holmgreniorum
gypsum blazingstar
Holmgrens' blazingstar
solitary or multiple, erect, straight;
branches distal or along entire stem, distal longest or all ± equal, antrorse; straight to upcurved; hairy.
solitary, erect, straight;
branches distal or along entire stem, distal or proximal longest, antrorse, upcurved; hairy.
blade 25–95 × 5.5–28(–36.2) mm, widest intersinus distance 0.8–9.1 mm;
proximal spatulate to oblanceolate or elliptic, margins pinnate to pinnatisect, lobes 4–16(–20), slightly antrorse or perpendicular to leaf axis, 2.3–11.8(–16.4) mm;
distal elliptic, lanceolate, spatulate, or linear, base not clasping, margins entire or dentate to pinnatisect, teeth or lobes (0–)4–16, slightly antrorse or perpendicular to leaf axis, 2.3–13.8(–16.9) mm;
abaxial surface with simple grappling-hook, needlelike, and sometimes complex grappling-hook trichomes, adaxial surface with simple grappling-hook and needlelike trichomes.
blade 42–89 × 11–31.9 mm, widest intersinus distance 2.3–3.6 mm;
proximal oblanceolate to elliptic, margins pinnatisect, lobes 14–20, strongly antrorse, 4.9–14.4 mm;
distal lanceolate, base not clasping, margins pinnatisect, lobes 12–18, strongly antrorse, 4.2–12.4 mm;
abaxial surface with simple grappling-hook, complex grappling-hook, and needlelike trichomes, adaxial surface with simple grappling-hook and needlelike trichomes.
margins usually entire, rarely pinnate.
margins pinnate.
petals white, 10.3–13(–28.6) × 1.4–4 mm, apex acute, glabrous abaxially;
stamens white, 5 outermost petaloid, filaments linear to narrowly spatulate, slightly clawed, 8.8–19(–22.3) × 0.7–3.3 mm, without anthers, second whorl without anthers;
anthers straight after dehiscence, epidermis papillate;
styles 6.5–11.3 mm.
petals golden yellow, 13.5–18.8 × 5.2–6.6 mm, apex rounded, glabrous abaxially;
stamens golden yellow, 5 outermost petaloid, filaments narrowly spatulate, slightly clawed, 11.1–16 × 2.7–5 mm, without anthers, second whorl with anthers;
anthers straight after dehiscence, epidermis smooth;
styles 8.4–10.6 mm.
cup-shaped, 5.3–10.2 × (4.2–)5.2–8.6 mm, base rounded, not longitudinally ridged.
cylindric, 13.1–14.6 × 5.8–6.9 mm, base tapering, not longitudinally ridged.
coat anticlinal cell walls wavy, papillae 6–12 per cell.
coat anticlinal cell walls sinuous, papillae 26–51 per cell.
= 20.
Mentzelia humilis
Mentzelia holmgreniorum
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
The basionym of Mentzelia humilis is often cited as M. multiflora var. humilis A. Gray (1852). However, in that publication Gray indicated accepted names in Roman capitals (see ipni.org), whereas the varietal name is in lower case, indicating that he was using it as a descriptive term rather than a scientific name. Valid publication of the basionym thus must be attributed to Urban and Gilg.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Mentzelia holmgreniorum is known from Apache, Coconino, and Navajo counties, Arizona, and Catron County, New Mexico. It is allopatric from the species most similar to it (M. filifolia, M. laciniata, and M. lagarosa), occurring south and west of all three; it differs from all these species in having upcurved rather than straight branches, and from M. filifolia and M. laciniata in having both simple grappling-hook and needlelike trichomes (versus only needlelike trichomes) on its adaxial leaf surfaces. In addition, M. holmgreniorum differs from M. filifolia in having leaf blades with greater intersinus distances (2.3–3.6 mm versus 1–2.4 mm) and wider lobes (1.6–2.5 mm versus 0.8–1.4 mm), from M. laciniata in having pinnate bracts (versus usually entire, rarely pinnate), and from M. lagarosa in having leaf blade lobes that are strongly antrorsely oriented (versus slightly antrorsely or perpendicular to the leaf axis) and flowers with larger petals (13.5–18.8 × 5.2–6.6 mm versus 8.3–13 × 2.2–5.4 mm) and longer outermost stamens (11.1–16 mm versus 6.5–10.7 mm).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaf blade widest intersinus distances 0.8–2.6(–3.3) mm; lobes of proximal leaves 1–2.9 mm wide. | var. humilis |
1. Leaf blade widest intersinus distances 1.6–9.1 mm (always on some leaves greater than 2.6 mm); lobes of proximal leaves (1.1–)2.9–5.1 mm wide. | var. guadalupensis |
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