Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Mentzelia albicaulis is a species of flowering plants in the family Loasaceae known by the common name whitestem blazing star. It is native to much of western North America, where it grows in mountain, desert, and plateau habitat. It is an annual herb producing a stem up to 42 centimeters long, sometimes growing erect. The leaves are up to 11 centimeters long in the basal rosette, divided into even comblike lobes, and smaller farther up on the plant. The flower has five shiny yellow petals 2 to 7 millimeters long each. The fruit is a narrow, straight or curving utricle 1 to 3 centimeters long. It contains many angular seeds covered in tiny bumps.

Plant type

Annual herb

Size

1 ft Tall

Calscape icon
Color

Yellow

Flowering season

Spring, Summer

Sun

Full Sun, Partial Shade

Soil drainage

Fast

Site type

Gravelly places

Plant communities

Chaparral, Creosote Bush Scrub, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, Yellow Pine Forest

Bees
Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 1 likely

Confirmed Likely

Protogygia album