Sand blazing-star
Images copyright by Mark A. Chappell
The sand blazing-star(Mentzelia involucrata) is a desert annual that can be common in the arid regions of southern California. They were abundant in Joshua Tree National Park in the spring of 2008; these were growing near the Park's south entrance. Several of these flowers contain small bees. Sand blazing-star has a quite different flower -- pale and ghost-like -- compared to the showy yellow blazing-star (Mentzelia laevicaulis), from the Great Basin.
