Species page

Bractless Mentzelia

Mentzelia nuda

The so-called sand lily (not a lily at all) inhabits open country from South Texas to the Panhandle, where it is particularly common on sandy soils. It is a plant of wonderful contrast, a tall, stiff, spindly, jaggedy perennial that gives rise to beautiful large white flowers that open in the late afternoon in summer or fall. As in all stickleafs, the leaves are like velcro and will stick tenaciously to clothes or fur, deservedly making this species extremely unpopular with sheep ranchers, despite its other charms.