Plant Image
Flowers and leaves


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Mentzelia pumila - dwarf mentzelia

Synonyms: Nuttallia pumila
Other Common Names: Golden Blazingstar, blazing star, dwarf blazingstar, mentzelia (dwarf)
Plant Form: Forb or Subshrub

Family: Loasaceae


   
 
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Plant
Desert Botanical Gardens Herbarium Collection, Usage rights: Attribution-Non-Commercial(CC BY-NC)
Forb Plant Description

Origin: Native   Life Cycle: Biennial
General Desc: Stout stems which are twisted, grayish to yellowish-white, striped with parallel, longitudinal lines or ridges; finely hairy with upward pointed barbed hairs, surface splitting and peeling away on older parts, flowers yellow, 10-petaled.
Identification notes: Stems solitary, erect, not branched from the base; branched above, branches directed upward; flowers bright yellow when fresh; 1 to 2 narrow bracts subtend the irregular, weak-angled sepals; outer stamens without anthers; capsules 2x as long as wide.
Height: 8 to 16 inches


Habitat

Habitat Description: Found on sandy soils, on slopes, plains and washes, often in dry stream beds and along roads.
Plant Communities: Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest, Riparian, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 100 - 8000 feet


Flower Characteristics

Color: Yellow     Shape: Regular in round clusters     Tubular: N     Flowering Period: Feb - Oct
Description: Flowers terminal, above 1 to 2 narrow bracts below sepals, petals 10, lance-like to broadened, tips rounded to pointed; sepals narrow, in 3 to 4 series, tip usually pointed, can be rounded; stamens in 2 whorls, 1 whorl petal-like, 1 has anthers.


Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Leaf Color: Green     Leaf Type: Simple     Leaf Shape: Narrow     Leaf Margin: Dissected     Leaf Attachment: Alternate     Leaves Clasp: Y
Hairs: Leaves and stems     Spines: N
Leaf Description: Narrow to lance-like, irregularly toothed to highly dissected, both surfaces feel rough with stiff hairs, lower leaves short stemmed, upper without stalks and partially clasping.


Fruit and Seed Characteristics

Fruit Type: Capsule
Fruit Notes: Cylindrical fruit, 2x as long as wide; base tapers, rough to the touch, marked with ridges.
Seed Notes: Broadly winged.



  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
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Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson  
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