Mentzelia
Encyclopedia
Mentzelia is a genus
of about 60-70 species
of flowering plant
s in the family
Loasaceae
, native to the Americas
. The genus comprises annual
, biennial
, and perennial
herbaceous
plants and a few shrub
s.
They are commonly called blazing stars or stickleafs; other names include "evening star
s" and "moonflower
s".
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of about 60-70 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Loasaceae
Loasaceae
The Loasaceae is a family of 15-20 genera and about 200-260 species of flowering plants in the order Cornales, native to the Americas and Africa. The family comprises annual, biennial and perennial herbaceous plants, and a few shrubs and small trees.Genera...
, native to the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
. The genus comprises annual
Annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
, biennial
Biennial plant
A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months. Usually the stem remains very short and the leaves are low to the ground, forming...
, and perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
herbaceous
Herbaceous
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
plants and a few shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s.
They are commonly called blazing stars or stickleafs; other names include "evening star
Evening Star
Evening Star is the name given to the planet Venus when it appears in the West after sunset; the ancient Greeks gave it the name Hesperus. It may also refer to:-People:* Arwen, an elf-maiden in J.R.R...
s" and "moonflower
Moonflower
- Plants :A common name for several night-blooming plants, some with white flowers, including:* Nightblooming cereus species, including Hylocereus.* Datura species, including D. inoxia...
s".
Selected species
- Mentzelia affinisMentzelia affinisMentzelia affinis is a species of flowering plants in the family Loasaceae known by the common name yellowcomet. It is native to the southern half of California, Arizona, and adjacent sections of Nevada and Baja California, where it is known from scrub, woodland, desert sands, and other habitat...
Greene – Yellowcomet - Mentzelia albescens (Gillies & Arn.) Griseb.
- Mentzelia albicaulisMentzelia albicaulisMentzelia albicaulis is a species of flowering plants in the family Loasaceae known by the common name whitestem blazing star, small flowered blazing star, white stemmed stickleaf...
(Douglas ex Hook.) Douglas ex Torr. & A.Gray – Whitestem Blazingstar - Mentzelia aspera L.
- Mentzelia congestaMentzelia congestaMentzelia congesta is a species of flowering plants in the family Loasaceae known by the common name united blazingstar. It is native to the western United States from Idaho to California where it grows in forest, scrub, and woodland habitat....
Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray – United Blazingstar - Mentzelia conzattii Greenm.
- Mentzelia cordifolia Dombey ex Urb. & Gilg
- Mentzelia croceaMentzelia croceaMentzelia crocea is an annual wildflower endemic to the Sierra Nevada foothills of California.The flowering plant can be found up to elevation.-Description:...
Kellogg – Sierra Blazingstar - Mentzelia decapetala (Pursh ex Sims) Urb. & Gilg – Ten-petal Stickleaf
- Mentzelia densa Greene
- Mentzelia desertorum (Davidson) H.J. Thomp. & Roberts – Desert Blazingstar
- Mentzelia dispersaMentzelia dispersaMentzelia dispersa is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common name bushy blazingstar. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to the Dakotas, where it grows in many types of habitat....
S.Watson – Mada Stickleaf - Mentzelia eremophilaMentzelia eremophilaMentzelia eremophila is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common names pinyon blazingstar and solitary blazingstar.-Distribution:...
– Pinyon Blazingstar - Mentzelia fendleriana Urb. & Gilg
- Mentzelia goodrichiiMentzelia goodrichiiMentzelia goodrichii is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common name Goodrich's blazingstar. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where it is known only from Duchesne County....
Thorne & S.L. Welsh – Goodrich's blazingstar - Mentzelia gracilentaMentzelia gracilentaMentzelia gracilenta is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common name grass blazingstar. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the southern Coast Ranges and adjacent Transverse Ranges of the Los Angeles area...
– Grass Blazingstar - Mentzelia hirsutissima
- Mentzelia hirsutissima var. nesiotes
- Mentzelia involucrataMentzelia involucrataMentzelia involucrata is a species of Mentzelia native to the Mojave and Sonoran deserts of North America. Its common names include sand blazing star and white-bract blazing star.-Description:...
– Sand Blazing Star, White-bract Blazingstar - Mentzelia inyoensis – Inyo Blazingstar
- Mentzelia jonesii – Jones' Blazingstar
- Mentzelia laevicaulisMentzelia laevicaulisMentzelia laevicaulis is a showy wildflower native to western North America. Its common names include giant blazing star and smoothstem blazing star....
(Douglas ex Hook.) Torr. & A.Gray – Giant Blazingstar - Mentzelia leucophyllaMentzelia leucophyllaMentzelia leucophylla is a rare species of flowering plant in the Loasaceae known by the common name Ash Meadows blazingstar. It is endemic to Nevada in the United States, where it is known only from Nye County. It is one of several rare plants to be found only in Ash Meadows, an area with a unique...
Brandegee - Mentzelia lindleyiMentzelia lindleyiMentzelia lindleyi, is an annual wildflower found in the Coast ranges and San Joaquin Valley of California, and in Arizona....
Torr. & A.Gray - Lindley's Blazingstar - Mentzelia micranthaMentzelia micranthaMentzelia micrantha is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common name San Luis blazingstar.It is native to the coastal mountain ranges of western North America from just north of the San Francisco Bay Area to Baja California...
– San Luis Blazingstar - Mentzelia mollis M.Peck
- Mentzelia montanaMentzelia montanaMentzelia montana is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common name variegated bract blazingstar. It is native to much of western North America including the western United States and northern Mexico. It is a member of the flora in many types of habitat.This is an...
– Variegated-bract Blazingstar - Mentzelia multifloraMentzelia multifloraMentzelia multiflora, commonly known as Adonis blazingstar, Adonis stickleaf, desert blazingstar, Prairie stickleaf and manyflowered mentzelia is a herbaceous perennial wildflower of the family Loasaceae native to the Southwestern United States, California, and northwestern Mexico...
(Nutt.) A.Gray – Adonis Blazingstar - Mentzelia nitensMentzelia nitensMentzelia nitens is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common names shining blazingstar and Venus blazingstar...
– Shining Blazingstar - Mentzelia nuda (Pursh) Torr. & A.Gray
- Mentzelia oligosperma Nutt. ex Sims
- Mentzelia oreophilaMentzelia oreophilaMentzelia oreophila is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common name Argus blazingstar. It is native to the Southwestern United States and the Mojave Desert sky islands in California...
– Argus Blazingstar - Mentzelia packardiae Glad
- Mentzelia parvifolia Urb. & Gilg ex Kurtz
- Mentzelia pectinataMentzelia pectinataMentzelia pectinata is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common name San Joaquin blazingstar.-Distribution:...
– San Joaquin Blazingstar - Mentzelia politaMentzelia politaMentzelia polita is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common name polished blazingstar. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it grows in desert mountains, washes, and other dry habitat.-Description:...
– Polished Blazingstar - Mentzelia pumilaMentzelia pumilaMentzelia pumila, is a biennial wildflower found in the western United States and northern Mexico from Montana and North Dakota, south to Sonora and Chihuahua...
Nutt. ex. Torr. & A. Gray – Dwarf Mentzelia - Mentzelia reflexaMentzelia reflexaMentzelia reflexa is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common name reflexed blazingstar.It is native to the Mojave Desert and adjacent mountain ranges in California and Nevada, where it grows in rocky habitat and sometimes disturbed areas.-Description:It is an annual...
– Reflexed Blazingstar - Mentzelia rhizomata Reveal
- Mentzelia scabra Kunth
- Mentzelia springeriMentzelia springeriMentzelia springeri is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common name Santa Fe blazingstar. It is endemic to New Mexico in the United States, where it occurs in the Jemez Mountains....
– Santa Fe Blazingstar - Mentzelia torreyiMentzelia torreyiMentzelia torreyi is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common name Torrey's blazingstar. It is native to the western United States where it grows in the Great Basin and surrounding areas in desert, scrub, woodland, and other habitat.-Description:It is a perennial...
– Torrey's Blazingstar - Mentzelia tricuspisMentzelia tricuspisMentzelia tricuspis is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common name spinyhair blazingstar. It is native to the Southwestern United States and California where it grows in deserts and adjacent mountains in scrub and woodland habitat.It is an annual herb growing erect...
– Spinyhair Blazingstar - Mentzelia veatchianaMentzelia veatchianaMentzelia veatchiana is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common name Veatch's blazingstar. It is native to the southwestern United States and Baja California where it grows in many types of habitat, from grassland to scrub to woodland.It is an annual herb growing...
– Veatch's Blazingstar