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.
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)
BC Ministry of Environment:BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer,
the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.
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.
