Mentzelia jonesii
Jones' blazing star
Family: Loasaceae · Type: annual · Native
Jones' blazing star is a California native annual found in the western Mojave Desert and Inyo Mountains in sandy to rocky washes, fans, and flats at elevations of 200 to 1,450 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces bright yellow flowers with orange-yellow bases, 8 to 22 millimeters long in delicate ovate to obovate shapes. Growing with erect to decumbent stems 5 to 40 centimeters tall, the plant displays variable hairiness from completely glabrous to distinctly hairy. Its leaves measure up to 14 centimeters long and range from entire to moderately lobed, with lance-ovate green bracts surrounding the flower clusters. The fruit is uniquely curved, measuring 15 to 38 millimeters long and featuring an S-shaped or less than 180-degree curve.
Habitat: Sandy to rocky washes, fans, flats, roadsides
Bloom period: Mar-May
Elevation: 200-1450 m
Bioregions: W&I, D
California counties: Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Inyo, Mono, Riverside, Kern, San Diego
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.