Mentzelia pectinata
Mentzelia longiloba
San Joaquin blazing star
Adonis blazingstar, Adonis stickleaf, many flower mentzelia
solitary, erect, straight;
branches distal or along entire stem, distal or proximal longest, antrorse, upcurved; hairy.
blade 35–112 × 4.3–27.1 mm, widest intersinus distance 2.3–15.3 mm, always on some leaves 4+ mm;
proximal oblanceolate to elliptic, margins dentate to pinnate, teeth or lobes 12–30(–50), perpendicular to leaf axis or antrorse, 1–9 mm;
distal lanceolate, base not clasping, margins serrate to pinnate, teeth or lobes 8–28, perpendicular to slightly antrorse, 0.8–7.5 mm;
abaxial surface with simple grappling-hook, complex grappling-hook, and generally needlelike trichomes, adaxial surface with simple grappling-hook and needlelike trichomes.
persisting;
petiole present or absent;
blade lanceolate to linear, margins deeply to shallowly lobed.
petiole absent;
blade ovate to linear, to 12 cm, margins deeply lobed to dentate.
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.
margins entire or toothed to pinnate.
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.
petals golden yellow, 11.3–20.4 × 2.9–7.2[–8.9] mm, apex acute to rounded, glabrous abaxially;
stamens golden yellow, 5 outermost petaloid, filaments narrowly spatulate, slightly clawed, 10.4–17.8 × 1.9–5.2[–5.6] mm, with or without anthers, second whorl with anthers;
anthers straight after dehiscence, epidermis smooth;
styles (5.4–)8.5–10.9(–13) mm.
clavate, 12–35 × 2–4 mm, axillary curved to 90° at maturity, usually inconspicuously longitudinally ribbed.
cup-shaped to cylindric, [7.6–]9.1–16.4 × 5.7–9.2 mm, length usually to 2 times diam., sometimes a few more, base tapering to rounded, not longitudinally ridged.
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.
coat anticlinal cell walls straight or sinuous, papillae 4–106 per cell.
= 18.
Mentzelia pectinata
Mentzelia longiloba
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.)
Varieties 4 (3 in the flora).
Variety pinacatensis J. J. Schenk & L. Hufford is known from the Mexican state of Sonora.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Seed coat anticlinal cell walls straight, papillae 4–6 per cell; margins of proximal leaf blades dentate. | var. chihuahuaensis |
1. Seed coat anticlinal cell walls sinuous, papillae 10–106 per cell; margins of proximal leaf blades pinnate. | → 2 |
2. 5 outermost stamens without anthers; leaf blade margin teeth or lobes perpendicular to leaf axis; seed coat cell papillae 67–106 per cell. | var. longiloba |
2. 5 outermost stamens with anthers; leaf blade margin teeth or lobes slightly antrorse; seed coat cell papillae 10–21 per cell. | var. yavapaiensis |
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
