Mentzelia puberula

Darlington's blazing star, Darlington's Blazing Star

Family: Loasaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Darlington's blazing star is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native perennial found in southeastern Mojave Desert and eastern Sonoran Desert in sandy crevices in cliffs or rocky slopes at elevations of 90 to 1,280 meters. Flowering from February to October, this plant produces bright yellow flowers with delicate petals 7 to 14 millimeters long and distinctively shaped stamens. Growing with erect, hairy stems 15 to 54 centimeters tall that branch throughout, it develops from a subshrub-like, branched taproot. Its leaves vary from widely obovate in the lower portion of the plant to sessile ovate forms in the upper branches, with most leaves measuring 2 to 6.5 centimeters long and featuring subtle tooth-like edges. The fruit is a distinctive cup-shaped structure 5 to 10 millimeters wide, containing small lenticular seeds with light brown bodies and white wings.

Habitat: Sandy crevices in cliffs or rocky slopes

Bloom period: Feb-Oct

Elevation: 90-1280 m

Bioregions: se DMoj, e DSon

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