Mentzelia pectinata |
Mentzelia crocea |
|
---|---|---|
San Joaquin blazing star |
saffron blazing star, Sierra blazingstar |
|
Habit | Plants candelabra-form, (8–)20–50(–60) cm. | Plants candelabra-form, 30–70(–100) cm. |
Basal leaves | persisting; petiole present or absent; blade lanceolate to linear, margins deeply to shallowly lobed. |
persisting; petiole present or absent; blade lanceolate to linear, margins usually shallowly, rarely deeply, lobed. |
Cauline leaves | petiole absent; blade ovate to linear, to 12 cm, margins deeply lobed to dentate. |
petiole absent; blade ovate to lanceolate, to 40 cm, margins deeply to shallowly lobed. |
Bracts | green, ovate to lanceolate, 6.6–12.8 × 1.9–6.8 mm, width 1/5–2/3 length, not concealing capsule, margins 3–7-lobed. |
green, broadly ovate to lanceolate, 6–12.7 × 3.5–7.7 mm, width 1/2–4/5 length, not concealing capsule, margins 3–10-lobed. |
Flowers | sepals 3–13 mm; petals red to orange proximally, orange to yellow distally, 8–22 mm, apex mucronate, rounded, or retuse; stamens 20+, 4–11 mm, filaments monomorphic, filiform, unlobed; styles 5–13 mm. |
sepals 7–20 mm; petals usually orange, rarely yellow, proximally, yellow distally, usually elliptic to ovate, rarely obovate, 21–42 × 8–17(–21) mm, apex acute; stamens 20+, 11–40 mm, filaments heteromorphic, 5 outermost linear, inner filiform, unlobed; styles 20–35 mm. |
Capsules | clavate, 12–35 × 2–4 mm, axillary curved to 90° at maturity, usually inconspicuously longitudinally ribbed. |
clavate, 20–35 × 3–5 mm, axillary curved to 45° at maturity, usually inconspicuously longitudinally ribbed. |
Seeds | 20–40, in 2+ rows distal to mid fruit, tan, dark-mottled or not, 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. |
30–40, in 2+ rows distal to mid fruit, tan, dark-mottled, irregularly polygonal, surface minutely tessellate under 10x magnification; recurved flap over hilum absent; seed coat cell outer periclinal wall domed, domes on seed edges less than 1/2 as tall as wide at maturity. |
2n | = 18. |
= 36. |
Mentzelia pectinata |
Mentzelia crocea |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–May. | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Slopes of sandy or gray-white silty soils, grasslands, oak savannas, uncommonly juniper woodlands. | Rocky slopes, roadsides, grasslands, oak-pine woodlands. |
Elevation | 200–1400 m. (700–4600 ft.) | 150–1700 m. (500–5600 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA
|
CA |
Discussion | Mentzelia pectinata occurs in Kern, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Tulare counties, around the southern rim of the San Joaquin Valley, extending into the Inner Coast Ranges and the southern foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Petal color varies from orange to yellow, and fully fertile artificial hybrids have been obtained between populations representing the extreme phenotypes (J. E. Zavortink 1966). Phylogenetic studies suggest that M. pectinata and M. congesta have hybridized to form several allopolyploid species (J. M. Brokaw and L. Hufford 2010b) despite their current allopatric distributions. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Mentzelia crocea and M. lindleyi are very similar morphologically and are most reliably distinguished geographically, with M. crocea occurring on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada and M. lindleyi occurring in the Coast Ranges. Low fertility of interspecific crosses supports recognition as separate species (H. J. Thompson 1960), which has been substantiated by genetic differences and non-sister relationships of the two species (J. M. Brokaw and L. Hufford 2010b). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 541. | FNA vol. 12, p. 536. |
Parent taxa | Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Trachyphytum | Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Trachyphytum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | M. lindleyi subsp. crocea | |
Name authority | Kellogg: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 3: 40, fig. 9. (1863) | Kellogg: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 7: 110. (1877) |
Web links |