Mentzelia pumila is in the family Loasaceae. Kearny and Peebles in Arizona Flora note that “the family is remarkable for the diversity and peculiar structure of the hairs”. I note that it’s pretty hard to hike around the borderlands and not have stickleaf plant parts stuck to your clothing and those plant parts are tough to remove thanks to “the peculiar structure of the hairs.”
Another common name for Mentzelia pumila is blazing star and I like that name a lot. It makes sense once you see the blazing yellow flowers that open in the late afternoon to be visited by native bees and then moths later in the evening and through the night.
The book I mentioned is A Field Guide to Desert Holes, by Pinau Merlin. I recommend adding it to your field guides. And the photos are mine. An interesting thing happened when I was looking up Mentzelia pumila on line for some more information. An image of the interesting seed heads came up with someone’s hand holding them. I thought that it was uncanny that the thumb had the same dent in the nail as mine….whaaa? it was my photo and my hand! Well, go figure…someone swiped my photo. I’m honored…I think.
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