Mentzelia dispersa

Bushy blazingstar

Family: Loasaceae · Type: annual · Native

Bushy blazingstar is a California native annual found in the California Floristic Province and Great Basin in loamy to sandy or rocky slopes and roadsides at elevations of 900 to 3,100 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces bright yellow flowers with an orange base, 2 to 6 millimeters long, emerging from erect hairy stems. Growing 7 to 48 centimeters tall with an upright habit, it has variable leaves ranging from entire to toothed or lobed, with proximal leaves larger than 10 centimeters. Its leaves transition from broader at the base to smaller and more entire toward the stem tips, creating a distinctive appearance. The fruit is narrowly cylindric, measuring 7 to 25 millimeters long, with seeds that are tan and sometimes dark-mottled.

Habitat: Loamy to sandy or rocky slopes, roadsides

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 900-3100 m

Bioregions: CA-FP, GB

California counties: Fresno, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Kern, Riverside, Ventura, Butte, Orange, Merced, Lake, Lassen, Glenn, Inyo, San Diego, Mendocino, Trinity, Modoc, Shasta, Nevada, Siskiyou, Plumas, Madera, Tehama, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Tuolumne, Santa Barbara, Placer, Mariposa, Contra Costa, Tulare, Mono, Sierra, Colusa, Alpine, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Napa, El Dorado, Humboldt, Calaveras, San Benito, Imperial

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.