Mentzelia humilis
Mentzelia puberula
gypsum blazingstar
Argus blazing star, Darlington's blazing star, pubescent blazingstar
solitary or multiple, erect, straight;
branches distal or along entire stem, distal longest or all ± equal, antrorse; straight to upcurved; hairy.
multiple, erect or decumbent, straight;
branches along entire stem, distal 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 18.8–62.7 × 11–36 mm, widest intersinus distance 8.9–28.8 mm;
proximal broadly elliptic to obovate, margins dentate to serrate, teeth 8–12, slightly antrorse or perpendicular to leaf axis, 1–4 × 1.7–6 mm;
distal ovate or obovate, base not clasping, margins dentate to serrate, teeth 6–12, slightly antrorse or perpendicular to leaf axis, 1–3.5 mm;
abaxial surface with complex grappling-hook trichomes, adaxial surface with needlelike trichomes.
margins usually entire, rarely pinnate.
margins entire.
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, 6.7–9.5(–12.6) × 2.3–5.8 mm, apex rounded, glabrous abaxially;
stamens golden yellow, 5 outermost petaloid, filaments narrowly spatulate, slightly clawed, 5.4–9.2(–11) × 1.3–2.7 mm, with anthers, second whorl with anthers;
anthers twisted after dehiscence, epidermis smooth;
styles 4.1–6.8(–9) mm.
cup-shaped, 5.3–10.2 × (4.2–)5.2–8.6 mm, base rounded, not longitudinally ridged.
cup-shaped, 5–9.8 × 5–8 mm, base rounded, not longitudinally ridged.
coat anticlinal cell walls wavy, papillae 6–12 per cell.
coat anticlinal cell walls straight, papillae 3–5 per cell.
= 20, 22.
Mentzelia humilis
Mentzelia puberula
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.)
Populations of Mentzelia puberula are associated with the Colorado River in Arizona, California, Nevada, and northern Mexico. Disjunct populations also occur in the Gila Mountains of Arizona.
(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 |
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
