can someone please help me id this plant ... it just came out in my front yard...i pay close attention to the local plants and i have never seen this one before...i live in el paso, texas..southwest U.S.

]Turnera Aphrodisiaca

Does it produce yellow/orange blooms? I see the yellow ones, but do they turn more orange with age?

hello and thank you for your response Porkpal. i have yet to see the flowers as they havent blossomed but appear to be yellowish white in color...seed pods or fruit appears to have a 5 point star like top . the leaves are extremely rough the stem is almost white in color.

I was thinking of cut leaf evening primrose or a close relative - maybe?

Can you share your location? It looks like something that grows here in the desert.

helpearth said:

I live in el paso, texas..southwest U.S.

Recommended Southwestern Native Plants
for the El Paso/Las Cruces Area of the
Chihuahuan Desert Region

I had a look at some of them. It might be useful even if the plant isn't listed.

http://www.utep.edu/leb/pdf/re...

It's some kind of Mentzelia, which go by a variety of common names such as stickleaf, blazingstar, evening star, among others. I don't know the species that grow in Texas well enough to say which one.

They generally bloom at night so, if you want to see the flowers, late in the evening or first thing in the morning is your best bet. Some species are spectacular in bloom.

Yes, that's where I was going. Mentzelia - Blazing Star. There are several natives in the western states. With a little research, you can figure out what you have. I love them (my local version is Giant Blazing Star - Mentzelia laevicaulis) so I let a few grow every year.

They seem to like freshly disturbed soil.

Mentzelia multiflora features a lot in El Paso. It has white stems, leaves and pods look right.

http://prc-symbiota.tacc.utexa...

http://www.opsu.edu/Academics/...

http://wnmu.edu/academic/nspag...

http://www.wildflower.org/gall...