Flora of North America species comparison

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Mentzelia torreyi

Mentzelia torreyi var. torreyi

Torrey's blazing star
Photo is of parent taxon

Torrey's blazingstar
Habit Plants with ground-level or subterranean caudices.
Stems

5–25 cm.

Leaves

petiole absent;

blade ovate or obovate, to 45 × 35 mm, intersinus distance 2–4 mm.

Pedicels

0(–1.5) mm.

Flowers

petals yellow to orange, narrowly spatulate to obovate, 4.5–17 × 1.2–5 mm, apex rounded;

stamens 25–45, 7–21 mm;

styles 7–18 mm.

petals 8–17 mm, yellow;

stamens 7–18 mm, longest to 1 mm longer than petals.
Capsules

3–7 × 3–4.5 mm.

Seeds

3–9 per capsule, edges prominently to inconspicuously ridged.

2n

= 28.

Mentzelia torreyi

Mentzelia torreyi var. torreyi
Phenology Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Sagebrush and desert scrub.
Elevation 1000–2200 m. (3300–7200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; NV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; NV
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in flora).

In the phylogenetic study by L. Hufford et al. (2003), Mentzelia torreyi was recovered as the sister to the rest of the genus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Petals 8–17 mm, yellow; longest stamens to 1 mm longer than petals.
var. torreyi
1. Petals 4.5–8 mm, orangish yellow, orange, or burnt orange; longest stamens usually much more than 1 mm longer than petals.
var. acerosa
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 530. FNA vol. 12, p. 530.
Parent taxa Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Micromentzelia Loasaceae > Mentzelia > sect. Micromentzelia > Mentzelia torreyi
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. mollis, 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. tricuspis, M. tridentata, M. uintahensis, M. veatchiana
M. torreyi var. acerosa
Subordinate taxa
M. torreyi var. acerosa, M. torreyi var. torreyi
Name authority A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 10: 72. (1874) unknown
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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