Mentzelia mollis
smooth blazingstar, smooth stick-leaf, soft blazingstar
not persisting.
petiole present (proximal leaves), absent (distal leaves);
blade lanceolate to linear (proximal leaves), ovate to lanceolate (distal leaves), to 6 cm, margins dentate or entire (proximal leaves), entire (distal leaves).
green, ovate to elliptic, 5–8.5 × 2–5 mm, width 2/5–3/5 length, not concealing capsule, margins entire.
sepals 3–5.5 mm;
petals yellow to orange proximally, yellow distally, 8–12 mm, apex rounded;
stamens 20+, 3–8 mm, filaments monomorphic, filiform, unlobed;
styles 7–9 mm.
cylindric or clavate, 5–22 × 2–4 mm, axillary curved to 45° at maturity, often prominently longitudinally ribbed.
15–25, in 2+ rows distal to mid fruit, tan, dark-mottled, irregularly polygonal, surface smooth to minutely tessellate under 10x magnification; recurved flap over hilum absent;
seed coat cell outer periclinal wall flat to slightly convex.
= 36.
Mentzelia mollis
Mentzelia mollis is narrowly distributed in eastern Malheur County, Oregon, and western Owyhee County, Idaho, and disjunctly in the Black Rock Range of Humboldt County, Nevada. Recent phylogenetic studies support treatment of these disjunct populations as a single species (J. M. Brokaw and L. Hufford 2010b). In both ranges, M. mollis is predominantly limited to barren soils with high salinity. Mentzelia mollis is listed as endangered by the Oregon Department of Agriculture and is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
OR
CalFlora
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
