Shining Blazing Star
Mentzelia nitens
Color: Yellow
Common name: Shining Blazingstar, Shining Blazing Star, Venus Blazing Star
Latin name: Mentzelia nitens
Family: LOASACEAE
Height: 5–13 inches
Description: Mentzelia nitens, is an herb producing an erect, whitish-green, sometimes slightly hairy stem. The inflorescence is a cluster of a few bright yellow flowers with petals up to 1.5 cm long and sometimes marked with red near the bases. The narrow, curving bladder-like fruit is up to 2.6 centimeters in length which contains many minute seeds which are bumpy under magnification.
Leaf: The lobed leaves are up to 15 centimeters long in the basal rosette, and those higher on the stem are reduced in size and sometimes unlobed.
Range: East of Sierra Nevada, n Mojave Desert
Habitat: Sandy washes, slopes
Elevation: 500–1800 m.
Flowering time: Apr-Jun
Notes: Mentzelia nitens, a dicot, is an annual herb that is native to California and is found only slightly beyond California borders. This photo was taken on February 25, 2005 near Daggett, Camp Rock Road, Mojave Desert, San Bernardino County, California.
We have an online wildflower field guide that is designed to help you identify desert wildflowers by color, scientific name, region and common name. The pictures are sized to work on the iPod, iPhone, iPad and similar devices. With your iPod or phone you will easily be able to identify wildflowers while in the desert. Links for downloads are on the bottom of the Wildflower Field Guide page.
Photo tips: Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function - usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.
Mojave Desert Wildflowers - This book is the standard by which all other wildflower books are measured. The author, Jon Mark Stewart, has combined super photography with concise information. This book has an entire color page for each wildflower covered, with a discussion of the wildflower. 210 pages with 200 color photos. More...
What's Blooming Now - Check the Wildflower Reports
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