Mentzelia nitens |
Mentzelia oligosperma |
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shining blazing star, Venus blazingstar |
chickenthief, chickthief, stickleaf mentzelia |
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Habit | Plants candelabra-form, 5–20(–35) cm. | Plants perennial, with caudices. |
Stems | erect, to 50 cm. |
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Leaves | petiole to 3 mm (proximal leaves), absent (distal leaves); blade ovate to hastate, rarely elliptic, basally lobed or unlobed, to 10 × 5 cm, base usually cuneate to truncate, sometimes acute, margins usually serrate, sometimes crenate, rarely entire, apex acute. |
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Basal leaves | persisting; petiole present or absent; blade lanceolate to linear, margins usually deeply to shallowly lobed, rarely entire. |
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Cauline leaves | petiole absent; blade ovate-lanceolate to linear, to 15 cm, margins deeply to shallowly lobed or entire. |
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Bracts | green, lanceolate, 4.5–8.3 × 1.2–3.6 mm, width 1/5–1/2 length, not concealing capsule, margins entire. |
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Pedicels | (fruiting) 0–2.5 × 2 mm. |
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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. |
petals orange, (6–)8–18.5 × (3–)4–10.5 mm, apex cuspidate, hairy abaxially on distal 1/2; stamens 15–45, 5–9.5 mm, filaments monomorphic, filiform; styles 5–10 mm. |
Capsules | clavate, 13–26 × 2–3.5 mm, axillary curved to 180° at maturity, usually inconspicuously longitudinally ribbed. |
subcylindric to clavate, (5–)7–17 × 2–3.5 mm, base tapering gradually, capsule and pedicel not well-differentiated, walls thick, woody. |
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. |
(1–)2–3(–4) per capsule, oblong, without transverse folds. |
2n | = 18. |
= 20, 22. |
Mentzelia nitens |
Mentzelia oligosperma |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Mar–Oct. |
Habitat | Sandy washes, rocky slopes, desert scrub. | Limestone, gypsum, or sandstone rock outcrops or cliffs, clay or loam flats, grasslands, savannas. |
Elevation | 400–2000 m. (1300–6600 ft.) | 0–1800 m. (0–5900 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; NV
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AR; AZ; CO; IL; KS; MO; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; WY
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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.) |
After Mentzelia aspera, M. oligosperma may be the most widespread member of sect. Mentzelia. Occurring widely across the Great Plains, it also extends eastward into Missouri and western Illinois and across southwestern New Mexico into southeastern Arizona. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 540. | FNA vol. 12, p. 529. |
Parent taxa | Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Trachyphytum | Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Mentzelia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | M. aurea | |
Name authority | Greene: Fl. Francisc., 234. (1891) | Nuttall ex Sims: Bot. Mag. 42: plate 1760. (1815) |
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