Mentzelia crocea
Encyclopedia
Mentzelia crocea is an 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...

 wildflower endemic to the Sierra Nevada foothills of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

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The flowering plant can be found up to 4920 feet (1,500 m) elevation.

Description

The stem grows up to a meter tall. The lobed leaves in the basal rosette are up to 20 centimeters long; those farther up the stem are smaller. The flower has 5 shiny yellow petals with orange spots at the bases. The petals may reach 3.6 centimeters in length. At the center are many long, whiskery stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...

s which may approach 3 centimeters long.

The fruit is a narrow utricle up to 3.5 centimeters long containing many tiny seeds which can be seen to be covered in minute bumps when viewed under magnification
Magnification
Magnification is the process of enlarging something only in appearance, not in physical size. This enlargement is quantified by a calculated number also called "magnification"...

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External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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