Mentzelia veatchiana
Mentzelia ravenii
Veatch's blazing star, white-stem blazingstar, white-stem stick-leaf
grass blazingstar, Raven's blazingstar
persisting;
petiole present or absent;
blade linear-lanceolate, margins deeply to shallowly lobed.
persisting;
petiole present or absent;
blade linear-lanceolate, margins deeply to shallowly lobed.
petiole absent;
blade ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, to 17 cm, margins usually deeply lobed to dentate, rarely entire.
petiole absent;
blade ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, to 18 cm, margins deeply lobed to dentate.
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 with prominent white base usually conspicuously extending outwards from midvein, ovate, 5.6–8.4 × 1.8–3.9 mm, width 1/5–2/3 length, not concealing capsule, margins 3–5-lobed.
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 2–6 mm;
petals orange proximally, yellow distally, 5–11(–13) mm, apex retuse;
stamens 20+, 3–7 mm, filaments monomorphic, filiform, unlobed;
styles 3.5–8 mm.
clavate, 8–28 × 2–4 mm, axillary curved to 70° at maturity, usually inconspicuously longitudinally ribbed.
clavate, 8–23 × 2–3 mm, axillary curved to 45° at maturity, usually inconspicuously longitudinally ribbed.
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.
15–30, 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.
= 54.
= 36.
Mentzelia veatchiana
Mentzelia ravenii
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 ravenii is narrowly distributed, with most populations limited to desert foothills on the northern edge of the San Gabriel Mountains in northeastern Los Angeles County. Populations of M. ravenii with relatively large flowers with yellow petals are often found growing under desert shrubs in mixed populations with M. veatchiana, which has relatively small flowers with orange petals in this area. A few tetraploid populations from western Riverside County have also been called M. ravenii (J. E. Zavortink 1966); further work is needed to confirm that these represent the same species. See 72. M. gracilenta for discussion of similarities it shares with M. ravenii.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
