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Mentzelia nitens


Higher Taxonomy
Family: LoasaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: LOASA FAMILY
Habit: Annual to subshrub; hairs needle-like, barbed, occasionally stinging. Leaf: alternate [opposite], generally +- pinnate-lobed; stipules 0. Inflorescence: cyme, raceme. Flower: bisexual, radial; sepals generally 5, generally persistent; petals generally 5, free or fused to each other or filament tube; stamens 5--many, filaments thread-like to flat, occasionally fused at base or in clusters; petal-like staminodes occasionally present; pistil 1, ovary inferior, chamber generally 1, placentas generally 3, parietal, style 1. Fruit: capsule or achene. Seed: 1--many.
Genera In Family: 18+ genera, 250 species: especially America (Africa, Pacific).
eFlora Treatment Author: Larry Hufford & Barry Prigge, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Douglas H. Goldman, Bruce G. Baldwin.
Genus: MentzeliaView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Common Name: BLAZING STAR
Habit: Annual to perennial herb, sometimes subshrub-like; hairs barbed to needle-like, not stinging; stems pale pink or generally +- white, branched or not. Leaf: linear to ovate, entire to pinnate-lobed; basal in rosettes, generally petioled; cauline generally sessile, +- reduced distally on stem. Inflorescence: generally cyme (or flower 1); bracts green to white-centered, margin green. Flower: sepals lanceolate to deltate, persistent; petals generally 5, free, white to yellow or orange; stamens generally many, +- free, generally unequal, inner filaments generally thread-like; outermost stamens opposite sepal lobes often modified, +- widened, or petal-like, with or without anthers or not; ovary generally cylindric, placentas generally 3, style thread-like, stigma 3-furrowed or -lobed. Fruit: capsule, cup-, barrel-, or urn-shaped to narrowly cylindric, occasionally curved. Seed: generally many, shape variable, sometimes winged.

eFlora Treatment Author: Joshua M. Brokaw, John J. Schenk, Barry Prigge & David Keil
Reference: Schenk & Hufford 2020 Syst Bot Monogr 110:1--230
Mentzelia nitens Greene
NATIVE
Habit: Annual 4--34 cm. Stem: erect to decumbent, glabrous to hairy. Leaf: < 15 cm, proximal toothed to lobed, distal entire to lobed. Inflorescence: bracts lanceolate, entire, green. Flower: sepals 3--8 mm; petals (7)8--18 mm, generally obovate, yellow, base yellow to orange; stamens <= style; style 4--8 mm. Fruit: generally curved <= 180°, 13--26 mm, 2--3.5 mm wide, obconic; seed rows +- 3 distal to mid-fruit. Seed: +- 1 mm, irregularly rounded distal to mid-fruit, ×-section occasionally triangular with grooves along longitudinal edges proximal to mid-fruit, tan, +- dark-mottled; recurved flap over attachment scar conspicuous; seed coat cells domed, < 1/2 tall as wide in age. Chromosomes: 2n=18.
Ecology: Sandy washes to rocky slopes; Elevation: 400--2000 m. Bioregional Distribution: SNE, n DMoj; Distribution Outside California: western Nevada. Flowering Time: Apr--Jun Note: Intergrades with Mentzelia eremophila, Mentzelia jonesii.
Jepson eFlora Author: Joshua M. Brokaw, John J. Schenk, Barry Prigge & David Keil
Reference: Schenk & Hufford 2020 Syst Bot Monogr 110:1--230
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

Previous taxon: Mentzelia montana
Next taxon: Mentzelia obscura

Botanical illustration including Mentzelia nitensbotanical illustration including Mentzelia nitens


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Citation for this treatment: Joshua M. Brokaw, John J. Schenk, Barry Prigge & David Keil 2023, Mentzelia nitens, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, Revision 12, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=33266, accessed on December 03, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on December 03, 2024.

Mentzelia nitens
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©2010 Neal Kramer
Mentzelia nitens
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©2012 James M. Andre
Mentzelia nitens
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©2009 Gary A. Monroe
Mentzelia nitens
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©2009 Gary A. Monroe
Mentzelia nitens
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©2008 Steve Matson

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Geographic subdivisions for Mentzelia nitens:
SNE, n DMoj
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map of distribution 1

(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurrence).






 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.

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All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month Flowering-Fruiting Monthly Counts

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).