Flora of North America species comparison

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Camissonia contorta

Camissonia parvula

contorted pod suncup, contorted sun cup, contorted-pod evening-primrose, plains evening-primrose, slender evening primrose, twisted suncup

Great Basin suncup, Lewis River suncup, tiny sun cup
Habit Herbs usually villous throughout, often also glandular puberulent distally, or, rarely, entirely strigillose and glandular puberulent throughout. Herbs usually glabrous or densely strigillose, rarely villous (mostly proximally), also often sparsely glandular puberulent, especially distally.
Stems

usually erect, sometimes decumbent, slender, wiry, usually many-branched, to 50 cm.

erect, slender, wiry, often branched, 2–15 cm.
Leaves

proximalmost not clustered near base, usually bluish green;

blade linear to narrowly elliptic, 1–3.5 × 0.1–0.5 cm, base cuneate or attenuate, margins sparsely serrulate, apex acute.

proximalmost not clustered near base;

blade linear or linear-filiform, 1–3 × 0.04–0.1 cm, base attenuate, margins subentire, apex acute.
Flowers

opening near sunrise;

floral tube 1.6–2.7 mm, usually moderately to very sparsely pubescent inside on proximal 1/2, rarely glabrous;

sepals 1.6–4 mm, reflexed in pairs;

petals 2.5–5 mm, each ± with 2 red dots basally; episepalous filaments 1–2.6 mm, epipetalous filaments 0.5–1.5 mm, anthers 0.3–0.6 mm, pollen with usually more than 30% of grains 4- or 5-pored;

style 2.5–5.1 mm, stigma surroundedby anthers at anthesis.

opening near sunrise;

floral tube 1.3–2 mm, glabrate;

sepals 1.5–2.5 mm, reflexed separately;

petals 1.5–3.6 mm, without red dots at base;

filaments 0.5–1 mm, anthers 0.3–0.6 mm, pollen with less than 5% of grains 4- or 5-pored;

style 1.5–3 mm, stigma surrounded by anthers at anthesis.
Capsules

15–45 × 0.8–1.3 mm;

subsessile.

15–28 × 0.6–1 mm;

pedicel 0–2 mm.
Seeds

0.7–0.9 × 0.3–0.4 mm.

0.7–0.8 × 0.4 mm.
2n

= 42.

= 28.

Camissonia contorta

Camissonia parvula
Phenology Flowering Mar–Jul. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Sandy soil, slopes, flats, disturbed areas, grasslands, chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodlands. Sandy soils, usually with sagebrush scrub.
Elevation 0–2300(–2700) m. (0–7500(–8900) ft.) 100–2700 m. (300–8900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Camissonia contorta is known from south Vancouver Island in British Columbia to south San Joaquin Valley and bordering foothills in Kern County, California, Ada and Adams counties in Idaho, western Nevada, east-central and southwest Oregon, and in Washington from San Juan and Whidbey islands, and Klickitat and Walla Walla counties.

P. H. Raven (1969) determined that Camissonia contorta is a self-compatible hexaploid and autogamous. The species probably arose, at least in part, following hybridization between the diploid C. campestris subsp. campestris and the tetraploid C. strigulosa, but some populations referred to as this species may also have originated following the functioning of an unreduced gamete in a tetraploid plant.

Although W. L. Wagner and P. C. Hoch (2009) came to a different conclusion for the valid publication of Camissonia contorta, the phrase “Camissonia contorta pubens” used by Kearney should be accepted as the telescoped representation of two different names: varietal and specific (K. N. Gandhi, pers. comm.).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

P. H. Raven (1969) determined that Camissonia parvula is a self-compatible tetraploid and autogamous. The species is closely related to C. kernensis and C. pubens.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Camissonia Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Camissonia
Sibling taxa
C. benitensis, C. campestris, C. integrifolia, C. kernensis, C. lacustris, C. parvula, C. pubens, C. pusilla, C. sierrae, C. strigulosa
C. benitensis, C. campestris, C. contorta, C. integrifolia, C. kernensis, C. lacustris, C. pubens, C. pusilla, C. sierrae, C. strigulosa
Synonyms Oenothera contorta, Sphaerostigma contortum Oenothera parvula, O. contorta var. flexuosa, Sphaerostigma contortum var. flexuosum, S. filiforme, S. flexuosum, S. parvulum
Name authority (Douglas) Kearney: Trans. New York Acad. Sci. 14: 37. (1895) (Nuttall ex Torrey & A. Gray) P. H. Raven: Brittonia 16: 284. (1964)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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