Oenothera capillifolia |
Oenothera heterophylla |
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variableleaf evening primrose |
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Habit | Herbs perennial (short-lived or, sometimes, suffrutescent) or annual, glabrous or strigillose; from a stout taproot. | Herbs annual or short-lived perennial, sparsely to densely strigillose, inflorescence sometimes also sparsely glandular puberulent, villous, or sparsely hirsute with spreading, pustulate-based hairs, or sometimes glabrate. | ||||||||
Stems | 1–many, weakly decumbent to ascending or erect, unbranched to moderately branched, (10–)25–80 cm. |
unbranched or branched mainly in distal part, 25–70 cm. |
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Leaves | 1–9 × (0.1–)0.3–1 cm, sometimes fascicles of small leaves to 2 cm present in non-flowering axils; petiole 0–0.6 cm; blade linear to narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate, often folded lengthwise, usually not much reduced distally, proximalmost leaves sometimes spatulate, base attenuate, margins subentire or serrulate or spinulose-serrate, apex acute. |
in a basal rosette and cauline, basal 7–15 × 1–2.5 cm, cauline 3–13 ×0.4–2.3 cm; blade narrowly oblanceolate to oblanceolate, gradually narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate or elliptic distally, margins deeply lobed to remotely dentate or subentire; bracts longer than capsule they subtend, 1–3 cm. |
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Inflorescences | dense, often with several lateral branches, mature buds usually overtopping spike apex. |
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Flowers | opening at sunrise; buds with free tips 0–4 mm; floral tube 5–20 mm; sepals 4–12 mm, midribs keeled; petals yellow, fading orangish to purplish, 6–25 mm; antisepalous filaments 2–8 mm, antipetalous filaments 1–4 mm, anthers 2–7 mm, pollen 90–100% fertile; style 9–30 mm, stigma sometimes blue-black, discoid to quadrangular, exserted beyond anthers. |
2–several per spike opening per day near sunset; buds erect, with free tips erect or spreading, 1–6 mm; floral tube nearly straight, 25–47 mm; sepals 15–30 mm; petals yellow, broadly elliptic to nearly rhombic, 18–35 mm; filaments 15–30 mm, anthers 3–8 mm, pollen 85–100% fertile; style 45–75 mm, stigma usually exserted beyond anthers at anthesis. |
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Capsules | 10–35 × 1–2 mm, hard, dehiscent 1/2 their length, often tardily dehiscent throughout their length. |
lanceoloid, 13–25 × 2.5–4 mm. |
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Seeds | obovoid, 1–1.8 mm, sharply angled, apex truncate. |
brown, often flecked with darker spots, ellipsoid to broadly ellipsoid, 1.1–1.8 × 0.4–0.8 mm. |
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Oenothera capillifolia |
Oenothera heterophylla |
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Distribution | c United States; sc United States; n Mexico |
s United States |
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Discussion | Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). Oenothera capillifolia is self-incompatible (H. F. Towner 1977). Oenothera berlandieri (Spach) Steudel 1841, not D. Dietrich 1840, is superfluous and cannot be used in Oenothera when transferred from Calylophus, and pertains here. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 10. | FNA vol. 10. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Calylophus > subsect. Calylophus | Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Oenothera > subsect. Candela | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Synonyms | Meriolix capillifolia | Raimannia heterophylla | ||||||||
Name authority | Scheele: Linnaea 21: 576. (1848) | Spach: Nouv. Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. 4: 348. (1836) | ||||||||
Web links |