Camissonia kernensis
Camissonia contorta
Kern County evening primrose, Kern sun cups
contorted pod suncup, contorted sun cup, contorted-pod evening-primrose, plains evening-primrose, slender evening primrose, twisted suncup
erect, often many-branched, 5–30 cm.
usually erect, sometimes decumbent, slender, wiry, usually many-branched, to 50 cm.
proximalmost sometimes clustered near base;
blade usually very narrowly elliptic to narrowly so, rarely lanceolate, 1–3.8(–5.5) × 0.2–0.5 cm, base narrowly cuneate, margins sparsely serrate, apex acuminate.
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.
opening near sunrise;
floral tube 2.2–3.8(–5.5) mm, villous inside;
sepals 5–9(–11) mm, reflexed separately;
petals 8–15(–18) mm, each with 2 large red dots basally; episepalous filaments 3.5–5.5(–7) mm, epipetalous filaments 1.3–2(–4.5) mm, anthers 1.8–2(–3) mm, pollen with less than 5% of grains 4- or 5-pored;
style 7–10(–14) mm, stigma well exserted beyond anthers at anthesis.
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.
22–37 × 1.5–1.7 mm;
pedicel 0–15 mm.
15–45 × 0.8–1.3 mm;
subsessile.
1.1–1.2 × 0.5–0.6 mm.
0.7–0.9 × 0.3–0.4 mm.
= 42.
Camissonia kernensis
Camissonia contorta
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).
Camissonia kernensis occurs in sagebrush scrub, and Joshua-tree and pinyon-juniper woodlands at elevations of 700–1900 m in southern and central California and southern Nevada. The species is self-incompatible and is apparently pollinated by oligolectic bees of Andrena subg. Onagrandrena (P. H. Raven 1969); Raven subdivided the species into two intergrading subspecies.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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.)
1. Herbs compact, sparsely glandular puberulent and villous throughout; leaves: proximalmost often clustered near base; pedicels 3–15 mm in fruit. | subsp. kernensis |
1. Herbs with open habit, glandular puberulent throughout, usually also sparsely villous, or glabrate, with few glandular hairs; leaves: none clustered near base; pedicels 0–5(–15) mm in fruit. | subsp. gilmanii |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
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