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Mentzelia jonesii - Jones' blazingstar

Scientific Family
Loasaceae
Synonyms
Mentzelia nitens var. jonesii
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Annual
Height
To 2 feet
Riparian
No

Annual with slender white stems, generally sprawling, the stems shining, smooth to hairy, hairs of the vegetation cause the plant to stick to clothing, although the hairs are not stinging. Flowers yellow, 5-petaled.

Slender white sprawling stems, with or without hairs; leaves deeply lobed; flowers yellow, petals 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, bracts small; fruit s-shaped or curved, to 1-1/2 inches long, inflated at tip, seeds square, irregularly angled, not winged or grooved.

Habitat

Found in sandy soils, in washes and on plains.

Plant Community
Desert Scrub
Grasslands
Interior Chaparral
Low elevation
1500
High elevation
5500

Flower Characteristics

Flowers at base of leaves, stemless, solitary, or in small clusters, petals <1 inch long, stamens shorter than the petals, bracts triangular to rounded, smooth-margined.

Flower color
Yellow
Flower shape
Regular
Tubular
No
First bloom month
March
Last bloom month
June
Flower clusters
Rounded

Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Leaves not stemmed, somewhat rounded to lance-like; margin toothed to dissected. Upper leaves few-toothed to smooth margined.

Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Green to gray-green
Leaf shape
Pinnatifid
Leaf margin
Dissected
Leaf attachment
Alternate & Opposite
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Leaves & stems
Spines
No

Fruit and Seed Characteristics

S-shaped or curved, arching to 180 degrees, to 1-1/2 inches long, with an inflated tip.

Fruit type
Capsule

Seeds square and irregularly angled, seeds not grooved on the angles.