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LOASACEAE

LOASA FAMILY

Barry Prigge

Annual to shrub; hairs needle-like, stinging, or rough
Leaves alternate in CA, generally ± pinnately lobed; stipules 0
Inflorescence various
Flower bisexual, radial; sepals generally 5, generally persistent in fruit; petals generally 5, free or fused to each other or to filament tube; stamens 5–many, filaments thread-like to flat, sometimes fused at base or in clusters; petal-like staminodes sometimes present; pistil 1, ovary inferior, chamber generally 1, placentas generally 3, parietal, style 1
Fruit: generally capsule (utricle)
Seeds 1–many
Genera in family: 15 genera, ± 200 species: especially Am (Africa, Pacific)
Reference: [Ernst & Thompson 1963 J Arnold Arbor 44:138–142]

MENTZELIA

BLAZING STAR

Annual to shrub; hairs generally barbed-rough (smooth)
Leaf linear to ovate, generally ± lobed; basal in rosettes, generally petioled; cauline generally sessile, ± reduced upward
Inflorescence: generally cyme (or flower 1); bract generally 1 per flower, generally green
Flower: sepals lanceolate to deltate, generally persistent; petals 5, free, generally yellow; stamens generally many, ± free, generally unequal, inner filaments generally thread-like; staminodes 0 or 5–many, outer often petal-like; ovary generally cylindric, placentas generally 3, style thread-like, stigma 3-furrowed or -lobed
Fruit generally tapered to base, sometimes curved
Seeds generally many, grain- to prism-like (triangular in X -section), angled, or lenticular and winged (important to identification)
Species in genus: ± 50 species: w US, ± tropical Am
Reference: [Darlington 1934 Ann Missouri Bot Garden 21:103–226]

Native

M. congesta Torr. & A. Gray

Annual 7–40 cm
Stem branched from base, erect, tan
Leaf 1–9 cm, entire to lobed
Inflorescence dense; bract ± fused and appressed to ovary, ± entire, widely wedge-shaped, tip truncate to 3-toothed, lower 3/4 white-scarious
Flower: sepals 1–4 mm; petals 3–9 mm, base with orange spot; stamens ± = style; style 1.5–5 mm
Fruit 5–12 mm, 2–3 mm wide, generally straight
Seed ± 1 mm, grain-like, ± sharp-angled, papillate, checkered or not; sides concave
Ecology: Disturbed slopes, pine forest, sagebrush scrub, pinyon/juniper woodland
Elevation: 1500–2700 m.
Bioregional distribution: High Sierra Nevada (e slope), Tehachapi Mountain Area, Western Transverse Ranges, San Gabriel Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, East of Sierra Nevada, Desert Mountains
Distribution outside California: to Idaho
Flowering time: May–Jul
Synonyms: var. davidsoniana (Abrams) J.F. Macbr

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