Mentzelia pumila

Mentzelia pumila
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Cornales
Family:	Loasaceae
Genus:	Mentzelia
Species:	M. pumila
Binomial name
	Mentzelia pumila; Nutt. ex. Torr. & A. Gray

Mentzelia pumila, (dwarf mentzelia, desert blazing star, blazing star, bullet stickleaf, golden blazing star,^[1] yellow mentzelia, evening star, moonflower, Wyoming stickleaf,^[1] etc.) is a biennial wildflower found in the western United States and northwestern Mexico from Montana and North Dakota, south to Sonora and Chihuahua. It is a blazingstar and a member of the genus Mentzelia, the stickleafs; member species are also called "evening stars", but some stickleafs close at sunset, as does M. pumila.

Leaves of Mentzelia pumila are long, very narrow, and serrated-pinnate-like; also medium to light grayish green; an individual plant in an opportune site can be 1.5–2.5 feet (1 m) in height. The flowers are a bright, glossy medium yellow, and the major petals are variable, sometimes 5 major, 5 minor; also 4 and 4.

Mentzelia pumila is covered in minute elaborations known as trichomes, which pierce and trap insects that land on it. A species of aphid, Macrosyphum mentzeliae colonises the plant and is afforded protection, since its main predator, the ladybird beetle, is unable to avoid the trichomes.^[2]

Uses[]

The root is a laxative.^[3] The Zuni people insert this plant into the rectum as a suppository for constipation.^[4] The plant is also used to whip children to make them strong so they could hold on to a horse without falling.^[5]

Footnotes[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Mentzelia pumila". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 5 September 2014.
^ Eisner, Thomas (2003). For Love of Insects. Harvard University Press. pp. 299–304. ISBN 978-0-674-01827-3.
^ "Mentzelia pumila - (Nutt.)Torr.&A.Gray.;". Archived from the original on January 17, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
^ Stevenson, Matilda Coxe 1915 Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians. SI-BAE Annual Report #30 (p. 57)
^ Stevenson, p.84

References[]

External links[]

Photo-Medium Res--(NOTE: 5-1/2 major petals, 5 minor-(a VARIATION)); Article – www.saguaro-juniper.com – "Wildflowers on Saguaro-Juniper Lands"
Photo-High Res--(Field Photo); Photo-(Flower-(and Seed pod)--Very High Res); Article – www.naturesongs.com – "Verde Valley-(Arizona) Plants"

[GRIN-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Mentzelia pumila". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 5 September 2014.

[2] Eisner, Thomas (2003). For Love of Insects. Harvard University Press. pp. 299–304. ISBN 978-0-674-01827-3.

[3] "Mentzelia pumila - (Nutt.)Torr.&A.Gray.;". Archived from the original on January 17, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2010.

[4] Stevenson, Matilda Coxe 1915 Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians. SI-BAE Annual Report #30 (p. 57)

[5] Stevenson, p.84

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