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smooth blazingstar, smooth stick-leaf, soft blazingstar

mountain blazing-star, variegated-bract blazingstar

Habit Plants candelabra-form, 3–15(–20) cm. Plants wandlike or candelabra-form, (5–)20–40(–50) cm.
Basal leaves

not persisting.

persisting;

petiole present or absent;

blade lanceolate to linear, margins usually deeply to shallowly lobed, rarely entire.

Cauline leaves

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).

petiole present or absent (proximal leaves), absent (distal leaves);

blade lanceolate to linear (proximal leaves), ovate-lanceolate to linear (distal leaves), to 13 cm, margins deeply to shallowly lobed or entire.

Bracts

green, ovate to elliptic, 5–8.5 × 2–5 mm, width 2/5–3/5 length, not concealing capsule, margins entire.

usually green with prominent white base conspicuously extending outwards from midvein, rarely green, usually obovate, rarely lanceolate, 5.9–9.2 × 1.7–5 mm, width 1/5–2/3 length, not concealing capsule, margins usually 3–7-lobed, lateral lobes usually prominent, rarely entire.

Flowers

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.

sepals 1–4;

petals orange proximally, yellow distally, 2–6(–8) mm, apex retuse or rounded;

stamens 20–40, 2–7 mm, filaments monomorphic, filiform, unlobed;

styles 1.5–3.5(–6) mm.

Capsules

cylindric or clavate, 5–22 × 2–4 mm, axillary curved to 45° at maturity, often prominently longitudinally ribbed.

cylindric or clavate, 6–17(–20) × 2–3 mm, axillary curved to 45° at maturity, usually inconspicuously longitudinally ribbed.

Seeds

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.

15–35, in 2+ rows distal to mid fruit, tan, moderately to densely dark-mottled, usually irregularly polygonal, occasionally triangular prisms proximal to mid fruit, surface tuberculate under 10x magnification; recurved flap over hilum absent;

seed coat cell outer periclinal wall domed, domes on seed edges more than 1/2 as tall as wide at maturity.

2n

= 36.

= 36.

Mentzelia mollis

Mentzelia montana

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jul. Flowering Apr–Aug.
Habitat Barren, sodic or calcic clay slopes and bluffs derived from volcanic ash. Open, disturbed slopes or flats, grasslands, sagebrush scrub, coniferous forests.
Elevation 800–1500 m. (2600–4900 ft.) 600–3400 m. (2000–11200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; NV; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; NM; NV; OR; TX; UT; WA; WY; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Mentzelia montana is widely distributed and, in portions of its range, difficult to distinguish from M. albicaulis. Mentzelia montana is morphologically intermediate to M. albicaulis and M. congesta, but ecologically more similar to M. congesta (J. M. Brokaw 2009). Mentzelia montana generally occurs at higher elevations than M. albicaulis and is best distinguished morphologically from M. albicaulis by capsule and bract characteristics. Capsules of M. montana are usually not longer than 17 millimeters or curved more than 45°, whereas those of M. albicaulis are often longer and more curved. Both species may have bracts with some lobes and whitish base, but only M. montana has populations in which these features are prominent. Sepal and petal lengths, which have sometimes been used to distinguish these species, overlap completely.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 12, p. 539. FNA vol. 12, p. 539.
Parent taxa Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Trachyphytum Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Trachyphytum
Sibling taxa
M. affinis, M. albescens, M. albicaulis, M. argillicola, M. argillosa, M. aspera, M. asperula, M. candelariae, M. canyonensis, M. chrysantha, M. collomiae, M. congesta, M. conspicua, M. crocea, M. cronquistii, M. decapetala, M. densa, M. desertorum, M. dispersa, M. eremophila, M. filifolia, M. floridana, M. flumensevera, M. goodrichii, M. gracilenta, M. hirsutissima, M. holmgreniorum, M. hualapaiensis, M. humilis, M. integra, M. involucrata, M. inyoensis, M. isolata, M. jonesii, M. laciniata, M. laevicaulis, M. lagarosa, M. leucophylla, M. librina, M. lindheimeri, M. lindleyi, M. longiloba, M. marginata, M. memorabilis, M. mexicana, M. micrantha, M. monoensis, M. montana, M. multicaulis, M. multiflora, M. nitens, M. nuda, M. obscura, M. oligosperma, M. oreophila, M. pachyrhiza, M. packardiae, M. paradoxensis, M. pectinata, M. perennis, M. polita, M. procera, M. pterosperma, M. puberula, M. pumila, M. ravenii, M. reflexa, M. reverchonii, M. rhizomata, M. rusbyi, M. saxicola, M. shultziorum, M. sivinskii, M. speciosa, M. springeri, M. strictissima, M. thompsonii, M. tiehmii, M. todiltoensis, M. torreyi, M. tricuspis, M. tridentata, M. uintahensis, M. veatchiana
M. affinis, M. albescens, M. albicaulis, M. argillicola, M. argillosa, M. aspera, M. asperula, M. candelariae, M. canyonensis, M. chrysantha, M. collomiae, M. congesta, M. conspicua, M. crocea, M. cronquistii, M. decapetala, M. densa, M. desertorum, M. dispersa, M. eremophila, M. filifolia, M. floridana, M. flumensevera, M. goodrichii, M. gracilenta, M. hirsutissima, M. holmgreniorum, M. hualapaiensis, M. humilis, M. integra, M. involucrata, M. inyoensis, M. isolata, M. jonesii, M. laciniata, M. laevicaulis, M. lagarosa, M. leucophylla, M. librina, M. lindheimeri, M. lindleyi, M. longiloba, M. marginata, M. memorabilis, M. mexicana, M. micrantha, M. mollis, M. monoensis, M. multicaulis, M. multiflora, M. nitens, M. nuda, M. obscura, M. oligosperma, M. oreophila, M. pachyrhiza, M. packardiae, M. paradoxensis, M. pectinata, M. perennis, M. polita, M. procera, M. pterosperma, M. puberula, M. pumila, M. ravenii, M. reflexa, M. reverchonii, M. rhizomata, M. rusbyi, M. saxicola, M. shultziorum, M. sivinskii, M. speciosa, M. springeri, M. strictissima, M. thompsonii, M. tiehmii, M. todiltoensis, M. torreyi, M. tricuspis, M. tridentata, M. uintahensis, M. veatchiana
Synonyms Acrolasia montana
Name authority M. Peck: Leafl. W. Bot. 4: 183. (1945) (Davidson) Davidson: in A. Davidson and G. L. Moxley, Fl. S. Calif., 240. (1923)
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