Plant Story--Handsome Ten-Petal Blazingstar, Mentzelia decapetala

The blazingstars, genus Mentzelia, are an American group, but especially western North American. Some species are found in the Caribbean, Central, and South America but 85 of the approximately 95 species are North American. If you live in the eastern half of the United States, you can be forgiven for never having heard of this group, because only three species have ranges east of the Mississippi. (Those are a Florida endemic and two found east to Illinois). Colorado has 25 species, almost all in the western half of the state, west of the Rocky Mountains; only four species grow on the eastern plains. They are in the small plant family Loasaceae, the blazingstar family.

ten-petal blazingstar, Mentzelia decapetala, at night