E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of BC

Mentzelia albicaulis (Hook.) Torr. & A. Gray
small-flowered evening star (whitestem blazingstar; white-stemmed evening star)
Loasaceae (Loasa family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

General:
Annual herb from a taproot; stems erect, several, simple or branched, white-shiny, usually somewhat barbed throughout, sometimes becoming glabrous, 10-40 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves, oblanceolate, deeply pinnatifid with deeply notched lobes, 2-11 cm long; stem leaves alternate, linear to lanceolate, 2-11 cm long, lobed or unlobed, wider, unstalked and entire to few-toothed above.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of few, stalked flowers in a tight, terminal cluster; petals 5, yellow, 2-6 mm long; calyces 1-2 cm long, hairy, the lobes 2-4 mm long; stamens shorter than the petals; bracts narrow to broadly lanceolate.

Fruits:
Capsules, narrowly club-shaped, 1-2.5 cm long; seeds 15-30, conspicuously rough-pimply under 10x magnification, not flattened.

Notes:
Difficult to separate from M. dispersa unless seeds are available.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecological Framework for Mentzelia albicaulis

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information	Value / Class
Site Information	Avg	Min	Max
Elevation (metres)	540	335	766
Slope Gradient (%)	45	0	75
Aspect (degrees) [0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]	168	111	271
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric]	1	1	2
Modal Nutrient Regime Class	A
# of field plots species was recorded in:	7
Modal BEC Zone Class	BG
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in	BG(5), IDF(1), PP(1)
Source: Klinkenberg 2013

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Native	S4S5	Yellow	Not Listed

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer.

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Acrolasia albicaulis (Hook.) Rydb.
Acrolasia gracilis Rydb.
Mentzelia albicaulis var. ctenophora (Rydb.) H. St. John
Mentzelia albicaulis var. gracilis (Rydb.) J. Darl.
Mentzelia albicaulis var. tenerrima (Rydb.) H. St. John
Mentzelia albicaulis var. veatchiana (Kellogg) Urb. & Gilg
Mentzelia gracilenta var. veatchiana (Kellogg) Urb. & Gilg
Mentzelia gracilis (Rydb.) H.J. Thomp. & F.H. Lewis, non Urb. & Gilg
Mentzelia mojavensis H.J. Thomp. & Roberts
Trachyphytum gracile Nutt., nom. inval.

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