Mentzelia veatchiana |
Mentzelia congesta |
|
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Veatch's blazing star, white-stem blazingstar, white-stem stick-leaf |
cluster blazing star, congested blazingstar, flower baskets, united blazingstar |
|
Habit | Plants candelabra-form, (5–)20–50 cm. | Plants wandlike or candelabra-form, 7–40(–50) cm. |
Basal leaves | persisting; petiole present or absent; blade linear-lanceolate, margins deeply to shallowly lobed. |
persisting; petiole present or absent; blade linear-lanceolate to linear, margins usually deeply to shallowly lobed, rarely entire. |
Cauline leaves | petiole absent; blade ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, to 17 cm, margins usually deeply lobed to dentate, rarely entire. |
petiole present or absent (proximal leaves), absent (distal leaves); blade linear-lanceolate to linear (proximal leaves), ovate-lanceolate (distal leaves), to 9 cm, margins deeply to shallowly lobed or entire. |
Bracts | usually green with prominent white base usually conspicuously extending outwards from midvein, rarely green, usually ovate, rarely lanceolate, 3.3–6.2 × 1.5–3.2 mm, width 1/4–7/8 length, not concealing capsule, margins usually 3–7-lobed, rarely entire. |
mostly white with green margins, conspicuous and showy, outer broadly ovate, inner obovate, outer 7–14.7 × 4.2–10.4 mm, inner 4.1–5.8 × 2.7–3.5 mm, width 1/2–7/8 length, concealing capsule, margins usually deeply 3–9-lobed to toothed, rarely entire. |
Flowers | sepals 2–5 mm; petals red to orange proximally, orange to yellow distally, 4–7(–10) mm, apex retuse; stamens 20+, 3–7 mm, filaments monomorphic, filiform, unlobed; styles (3–)3.5–6 mm. |
sepals 1–4 mm; petals orange proximally, pale yellow to yellow distally, 2–8(–10) mm, apex retuse; stamens 20–40, 1.5–5 mm, filaments monomorphic, filiform, unlobed; styles 1.5–5 mm. |
Capsules | clavate, 8–28 × 2–4 mm, axillary curved to 70° at maturity, usually inconspicuously longitudinally ribbed. |
cylindric or clavate, 5–12 × 2–3 mm, axillary curved to 10° at maturity, usually inconspicuously longitudinally ribbed. |
Seeds | 15–35, in 2+ rows distal to mid fruit, tan, dark-mottled, 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 or equal to 1/2 as tall as wide at maturity. |
10–25, in 2+ rows distal to mid fruit, tan, dark-mottled or not, irregularly polygonal, surface 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 | = 54. |
= 18. |
Mentzelia veatchiana |
Mentzelia congesta |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jun. | Flowering May–Jul. |
Habitat | Loamy to sandy soils, grasslands, desert scrub, oak-pine woodlands. | Disturbed slopes, sagebrush scrub, pinyon/juniper woodlands, pine forests. |
Elevation | 200–2500 m. [700–8200 ft.] | 1200–2700 m. [3900–8900 ft.] |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; NV; OR
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CA; ID; NV; OR
|
Discussion | Mentzelia veatchiana is the most common and widely distributed hexaploid species in sect. Trachyphytum. It exhibits considerable morphological variation and can be difficult to distinguish from M. montana in northern California. Like the larger-flowered M. pectinata, M. veatchiana has interfertile populations with petal colors ranging from orange to yellow (J. E. Zavortink 1966). When bearing orange petals, M. veatchiana is easily distinguished from other species. Reports of M. veatchiana from Utah are based on specimens treated here as M. montana. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Mentzelia congesta is easily distinguished from other species in sect. Trachyphytum by its large, mostly white bracts. However, the bracts of M. congesta are strikingly similar to those of M. involucrata in sect. Bicuspidaria (see discussion under 53. M. involucrata). Phylogenetic studies suggest that the genome of M. congesta is present in more than half of the polyploid taxa in sect. Trachyphytum, including all species that exhibit bracts with partially white bases (J. M. Brokaw and L. Hufford 2010b). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 543. | FNA vol. 12, p. 535. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | M. albicaulis var. veatchiana | Acrolasia davidsoniana, M. congesta var. davidsoniana |
Name authority | Kellogg: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 99, fig. 28. (1863) | Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 534. (1840) |
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