Mentzelia nitens |
Mentzelia eremophila |
|
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shining blazing star, Venus blazingstar |
pinyon blazing star, solitary blazing star |
|
Habit | Plants candelabra-form, 5–20(–35) cm. | Plants candelabra-form, (7–)30–50(–60) cm. |
Basal leaves | persisting; petiole present or absent; blade lanceolate to linear, margins usually deeply to shallowly lobed, rarely entire. |
persisting; petiole present or absent; blade linear-lanceolate to linear, margins very deeply lobed, lobes slender. |
Cauline leaves | petiole absent; blade ovate-lanceolate to linear, to 15 cm, margins deeply to shallowly lobed or entire. |
petiole absent; blade ovate-lanceolate to linear, to 15 cm, margins deeply to shallowly lobed or entire. |
Bracts | green, lanceolate, 4.5–8.3 × 1.2–3.6 mm, width 1/5–1/2 length, not concealing capsule, margins entire. |
green, ovate to lanceolate, 4.8–12.4 × 0.9–3.5 mm, width 1/8–1/2 length, not concealing capsule, margins usually entire, rarely 2-lobed. |
Flowers | sepals 3–8 mm; petals yellow to orange proximally, yellow distally, (7–)8–18 mm, apex rounded or acute apex; stamens 20+, 3–8 mm, filaments monomorphic, filiform, unlobed; styles 4–8 mm. |
sepals (7–)9–16 mm; petals yellow, 12–25 mm, apex acute or mucronate; stamens 20+, 3–10 mm, filaments monomorphic, filiform, unlobed; styles 7–15 mm. |
Capsules | clavate, 13–26 × 2–3.5 mm, axillary curved to 180° at maturity, usually inconspicuously longitudinally ribbed. |
clavate, 19–40 × 2–3.5 mm, axillary curved to 270° at maturity, usually inconspicuously longitudinally ribbed. |
Seeds | 15–40, in 2+ rows distal to mid fruit, tan, usually dark-mottled, usually irregularly polygonal, occasionally triangular prisms proximal to mid fruit, surface colliculate under 10x magnification; recurved flap over hilum usually present; seed coat cell outer periclinal wall domed, domes on seed edges less than 1/2 as tall as wide at maturity. |
30–60, in 2+ rows distal to mid fruit, tan, usually dark-mottled, usually irregularly polygonal, occasionally triangular prisms proximal to mid fruit, surface colliculate under 10x magnification; recurved flap over hilum usually present; seed coat cell outer periclinal wall domed, domes on seed edges less than 1/2 as tall as wide at maturity. |
2n | = 18. |
= 18. |
Mentzelia nitens |
Mentzelia eremophila |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Mar–May. |
Habitat | Sandy washes, rocky slopes, desert scrub. | Rocky slopes, washes, canyons, creosote-bush scrub. |
Elevation | 400–2000 m. (1300–6600 ft.) | 600–1300 m. (2000–4300 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; NV
|
CA
|
Discussion | Mentzelia nitens is similar to both M. eremophila and M. jonesii but exhibits little distributional overlap with either species. See 71. M. eremophila and 73. M. jonesii for discussion of similarities. Reports of M. nitens from Arizona are based on specimens treated here as M. jonesii. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Mentzelia eremophila is narrowly distributed in eastern Kern and northwestern San Bernardino counties. It is morphologically similar and closely related to M. nitens (J. M. Brokaw and L. Hufford 2010). However, M. eremophila generally has longer sepals, petals, and styles, and populations of M. nitens have not been found south of Inyo County in California. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 540. | FNA vol. 12, p. 537. |
Parent taxa | Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Trachyphytum | Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Trachyphytum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | M. lindleyi var. eremophila | |
Name authority | Greene: Fl. Francisc., 234. (1891) | (Jepson) H. J. Thompson & J. E. Roberts: Phytologia 21: 281. (1971) |
Web links |