Mentzelia multicaulis
{{Short description|Plant species in the stickleaf family}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Mentzelia multicaulis - Jared Shorma 02.jpg
| image_caption = In Summit County, Colorado
| status = {{TNCStatus}}
| status_system = TNC
| status_ref = {{sfn|NatureServe 2025}}
| genus = Mentzelia
| species = multicaulis
| authority = (Osterh.) J.Darl.
| synonyms_ref = {{sfn|POWO 2025}}
| synonyms = {{Species list
| Mentzelia pumila var. multicaulis |
| Nuttallia multicaulis |
| Touterea multicaulis |
}}
}}
Mentzelia multicaulis, also known as manystem blazingstar, is a species of plant in the stickleaf family that is endemic to three counties in the state of Colorado.
Description
Manystem blazingstar is a perennial plant that resembles a bush.{{sfn|Schenk|Hufford|2020}} When fully grown it can be {{convert|15 to 40|cm|0|sp=us}} tall.{{sfn|Holmgren|Holmgren|Cronquist|2005|p=105}} Plants can have an underground caudex or sometimes sprout from rhizomes and have a woody taproot.{{sfn|Schenk|Hufford|2020}}{{sfn|Holmgren|Holmgren|Cronquist|2005|p=105}} The stems are sometimes woody near the base and branch frequently.{{sfn|Holmgren|Holmgren|Cronquist|2005|p=105}} They may be straight or zigzag and may grow straight upwards or outwards close to the ground before growing upwards, but all are hairy.{{sfn|Schenk|Hufford|2020}}
The leaves range in length from 2 to 5.7 centimeters, but are just 4.2 to 19 millimeters wide. Manystem blazingstars have golden yellow flowers with five true petals and five modified stamens that resemble petals. They are followed by cylindrical to cup shaped fruits with many seeds.{{sfn|Schenk|Hufford|2020}}
Taxonomy
Mentzelia multicaulis was scientifically described by George Everett Osterhout in 1903 with the name Touterea multicaulis. It was moved to the genus Mentzelia in 1934 by Josephine Darlington, giving the species its accepted name.{{sfn|POWO 2025}} This was part of a reorganization of Mentzelia confirming the reduction of Touterea to a botanical synonym of Mentzelia and along with Nuttallia which had been revived by Edward Lee Greene in 1906.{{sfn|Darlington|1934|pp=105–106}} With the rest of its genus it is classified in the family Loasaceae. It has three heterotypic synonyms.{{sfn|POWO 2025}}
| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" id="Synonyms"
|+ class="nowrap" | Table of Synonyms ! Name ! Year ! Rank ! Notes |
| Mentzelia pumila var. multicaulis {{small|(Osterh.) A.Nelson}}
| 1909 |data-sort-value=D | variety |data-sort-value=B | = het. |
| Nuttallia multicaulis {{small|(Osterh.) Osterh.}}
| 1912 |data-sort-value=A | species |data-sort-value=B | = het. |
| Touterea multicaulis {{small|Osterh.}}
| 1903 |data-sort-value=A | species |data-sort-value=B | = het. |
=Names=
Mentzelia multicaulis is known by the common name manystem blazingstar or many-stem blazingstar.{{sfn|Schenk|Hufford|2020}}{{sfn|Holmgren|Holmgren|Cronquist|2005|p=105}} It is also sometimes known as the multiple-branched blazingstar.{{sfn|NatureServe 2025}}
Range and habitat
The manystem blazingstar is endemic to just three counties in central Colorado, Eagle, Grand, and Summit. They grow in barren areas with few other plants including steep slopes, drainage gullies, and road cuts at elevations of {{convert|2000 to 2500|m|sp=us}}.{{sfn|Schenk|Hufford|2020}} The total size of its range was calculated by NatureServe at {{convert|1000 to 5000|km2|sp=us}}. Twenty-one occurrences have been documented, but nine have not had growing plants documented in more than 20 years.{{sfn|NatureServe 2025}}
It was rated as globally vulnerable by NatureServe when evaluated in 2022.{{sfn|NatureServe 2025}}
References
=Citations=
{{reflist}}
=Sources=
;Books
{{refbegin}}
- {{Cite book |last1=Holmgren |first1=Noel H. |last2=Holmgren |first2=Patricia K. |author-link2=Patricia Kern Holmgren |last3=Cronquist |first3=Arthur |author-link3=Arthur Cronquist |date=2005 |title=Intermountain Flora : Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A. |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0893274690_2 |url-access=registration |language=en |volume=Two, Part B. Subclass Dilleniidae |location=New York |publisher=New York Botanical Garden |isbn=978-0-89327-300-2 |oclc=470621008 |access-date=7 June 2025}}
{{Refend}}
;Journals
{{refbegin}}
- {{Cite journal |last1=Darlington |first1=Josephine |date=February 1934 |title=A Monograph of the Genus Mentzelia |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15994380 |journal=Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden |language=en |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=103–226 |doi=10.2307/2394228 |doi-access= |issn=0026-6493 |jstor=2394228 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515000000/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15994380 |archive-date=15 May 2020 |access-date=7 June 2025}} [https://archive.org/details/biostor-11527 Alt URL]
{{Refend}}
;Web sources
{{refbegin}}
- {{Cite NatureServe |date=30 May 2025 |id=2.1194124 |title=Mentzelia multicaulis |access-date=7 June 2025 |ref={{sfnref|NatureServe 2025}}}}
- {{Cite POWO |last1=POWO |date=2025 |id=545444-1 |title=Mentzelia multicaulis (Osterh.) J.Darl. |access-date=7 June 2025 |ref={{sfnref|POWO 2025}}}}
- {{Cite web |last1=Schenk |first1= John J. |last2=Hufford |first2=Larry |date=5 November 2020 |orig-date=In print 2016 |url=https://floranorthamerica.org/Mentzelia_multicaulis |title=Mentzelia multicaulis |website=Flora of North America |page=511 |language=en |isbn=978-0-19-064372-0 |oclc=1101573420 |access-date=7 June 2025}}
{{Refend}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q17248285}}