Chickenthief (Mentzelia oligosperma)
Description
Plants perennial, with caudices. Stems erect, to 50 cm. Leaves: petiole to 3 mm (proximal leaves), absent (distal leaves); blade ovate to hastate, rarely elliptic, basally lobed or unlobed, to 10 - 5 cm, base usually cuneate to truncate, sometimes acute, margins usually serrate, sometimes crenate, rarely entire, apex acute. Pedicels (fruiting) 0-2.5 - 2 mm. Flowers: petals orange, (6-)8-18.5 - (3-)4-10.5 mm, apex cuspidate, hairy abaxially on distal 1/2; stamens 15-45, 5-9.5 mm, filaments monomorphic, filiform; styles 5-10 mm. Capsules subcylindric to clavate, (5-)7-17 - 2-3.5 mm, base tapering gradually, capsule and pedicel not well-differentiated, walls thick, woody. Seeds (1-)2-3(-4) per capsule, oblong, without transverse folds. 2N = 20, 22. Flowering Mar-Oct. Limestone, gypsum, or sandstone rock outcrops or cliffs, clay or loam flats, grasslands, savannas; 0-1800 m; Ariz., Ark., Colo., Ill., Kans., Mo., Nebr., N.Mex., Okla., S.Dak., Tex., Wyo.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Cornales
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Family: Loasaceae
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Genus: Mentzelia
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