The large and showy flowers of blazing star stand out on a weedy-looking plant on barren, grevelly slopes in the Thompson River Valley in summer.

• Mentzelia laevicaulis is a taprooted biennial or short-lived perennial.
• There is also an annual variety that grows at lower elevations in our area. It has a white stem and smaller flowers.
• Blazing star has mostly erect stems that grow from about 30cm to 2.5 m.
• Stems tend to branch out at acute angles. Stiff hairs cover the stems, except at the base.
• Basal leaves are lancolate and lobed. Stem leaves grow alternately along the stem (less lobed and hairy),
• Yellow flowers are star-shaped, with 5 petals and many long stamens.
• Large, showy flowers open at dusk and remain open through the night and morning, then close in the afternoon.
• All photos taken by the author in Painted Bluffs Provincial Park over a number of years. Click an image for a caption and larger image.

• Numerous seeds develop in capsules (as seen in the photos above).
• The seeds are flattened and winged, aiding dispersal by wind.
• Blazing star is found in dry, open areas in the grasslands and on barren or eroded hillsides, mostly at low elevations in the valley.
• Other names for this species are smoothstem blazingstar and stickleafs.
• The leaves are like velcro because they are covered by barbed hairs. This may be an adaptation in which a passing animal inadvertently shakes the plant because of the sticky leaves, thereby dispersing the seeds.
• It is mostly pollinated by hawk moths and bumblebees, but it can self-pollinate in the process of opening and closing.
• Plants can be propagated by seed.
• In some Indigenous groups, the seeds were eaten as food and in others, the root was used to treat various ailments.
• Because the petals are shiny, extra care must be taken with photographing the blooms because of reflection off the petals on a sunny day, with overexposure challenges, similar to photographing sagebrush buttercups.

Annual varieties can also be spotted in disturbed, dry areas. It is always and unexpected delight to spot either the annual or the biennial variety. but it is a special privilege to come to a cluster of blazing stars in full bloom.