Shining stickleaf, Mentzelia nitens (29051509227)

Description:

Summary[edit] Description: shining stickleaf, Mentzelia nitens, California, White Mountains, fan below Coldwater Canyon, Chalfant Valley - Owens Valley drainage, elevation 1405 m (4610 ft). Another of the big bright desert annuals that greet a big water year, this species is confined to the east side of the central Sierra Nevada in California, eastward to adjacent parts of the southern Great Basin and northern Mojave Desert in western Nevada, at elevations of 400-2000 meters (1300-6600 feet). It is very similar to Mentzelia jonesii from somewhat lower elevations farther south and east in the Mojave Desert, and I identified these plants based solely on geography, since the other main differences between the two are different sculpturing of the seed coats, and different chromosome numbers, neither of which were available to me! The type location of Mentzelia nitens is just north of here near Benton, California. Also called blazing stars, the common name stickleaf comes from the tiny barbed hairs on the foliage and other parts of most Mentzelia species, which cause them to adhere to clothing and other passing epidermal coverings, and no doubt aid in dispersal of the plants and their seeds. Also visible in this images are showy gilia (Gilia cana subsp. triceps), yellowthroats (Phacelia fremontii), and whitestem stickleaf (Mentzelia albicaulis). Date: 21 April 2017, 15:13. Source: shining stickleaf, Mentzelia nitens. Author: Jim Morefield from Nevada, USA. Camera location37° 28′ 15.85″ N, 118° 19′ 52.14″ W View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap 37.471069; -118.331150.