Mentzelia veatchiana |
Mentzelia dispersa |
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Veatch's blazing star, white-stem blazingstar, white-stem stick-leaf |
bushy blazing-star, bushy mentzelia, Nada stickleaf, Nevada blazingstar, scattered blazing star |
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Habit | Plants candelabra-form, (5–)20–50 cm. | Plants wandlike or candelabra-form, 10–40(–50) cm. |
Basal leaves | persisting; petiole present or absent; blade linear-lanceolate, margins deeply to shallowly lobed. |
persisting; petiole present or absent; blade elliptic to linear, margins usually dentate, sinuses extending less than 1/4 to midvein, or entire, rarely deeply lobed. |
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 elliptic to linear (proximal leaves), orbiculate to linear (distal leaves), to 10 cm, margins usually dentate, sinuses extending less than 1/4 to midvein, or entire, rarely deeply lobed. |
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. |
green, orbiculate to ovate, 2.1–6.5 × 1.1–3 mm, width 1/3–7/8 length, not concealing capsule, margins 3-lobed or 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 1–3.5 mm; petals usually yellow, rarely orange, proximally, yellow distally, 2–6(–8) mm, apex rounded; stamens 20–40, 2–4.5 mm, filaments monomorphic, filiform, unlobed; styles 2–3.5(–5) mm. |
Capsules | clavate, 8–28 × 2–4 mm, axillary curved to 70° at maturity, usually inconspicuously longitudinally ribbed. |
narrow-cylindric, 7–30 × 1–2.5 mm, axillary curved to 30° 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. |
10–20, in 1 row distal to mid fruit, tan, dark-mottled or not, triangular prisms, surface ± smooth under 10x magnification; recurved flap over hilum absent; seed coat cell outer periclinal wall flat. |
2n | = 54. |
= 18, 36, 72. |
Mentzelia veatchiana |
Mentzelia dispersa |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jun. | Flowering (Apr–)May–Aug(–Sep). |
Habitat | Loamy to sandy soils, grasslands, desert scrub, oak-pine woodlands. | Loamy to sandy or rocky slopes, grasslands, scrub, dry forests, roadsides. |
Elevation | 200–2500 m. [700–8200 ft.] | 400–3100 m. [1300–10200 ft.] |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; NV; OR
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AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; BC
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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 dispersa is the only polyploid species solely derived from the “Affines” clade and may be an autopolyploid complex (J. M. Brokaw and L. Hufford 2010, 2010b). Morphological characters that consistently distinguish cytotypes within M. dispersa have not been found. Mentzelia dispersa is most easily confused with M. affinis (see discussion under 65. M. affinis) but is phylogenetically distinct (Brokaw and Hufford 2010, 2010b). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 543. | FNA vol. 12, p. 536. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | M. albicaulis var. veatchiana | M. albicaulis var. integrifolia, M. dispersa var. compacta, M. dispersa var. latifolia, M. dispersa var. obtusa, M. pinetorum |
Name authority | Kellogg: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 99, fig. 28. (1863) | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 11: 137. (1876) |
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