Oenothera coronopifolia |
Oenothera macrocarpa |
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crownleaf evening primrose |
bigfruit evening primrose, Missouri evening primrose, Ozark sundrop |
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Habit | Herbs perennial, strigillose, usually also hirsute; from a taproot, lateral roots producing adventitious shoots. | Herbs caulescent, strigillose or glabrous, sometimes glandular puberulent distally; from a stout taproot, sometimes lateral roots producing adventitious shoots. | ||||||||||||||||
Stems | ascending to erect, 1–several from base, these unbranched to well-branched, 10–60 cm. |
moderately leafy, (1–)4–40(–60) cm. |
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Leaves | in a weakly developed basal rosette and cauline, 2–7 × 0.2–1.5 cm, axillary fascicles of reduced leaves often present; blade oblanceolate to oblong, margins usually pinnatifid, sometimes proximal ones coarsely few-toothed. |
cauline, (2.8–)3.7–12.5(–17) × (0.1–)0.4–3(–4.5) cm; petiole (0.4–)1–4(–6) cm; blade linear, lanceolate-elliptic, elliptic to oblanceolate or suborbiculate, margins entire or conspicuously or inconspicuously denticulate or serrulate, sometimes undulate, apex usually acute, sometimes obtuse or retuse (subsp. incana). |
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Flowers | 1–3 opening per day near sunset; buds nodding, weakly quadrangular, without free tips; floral tube 10–25 mm, mouth conspicuously pubescent, closed with straight, white hairs, 1–2 mm; sepals 10–20 mm; petals white, fading pink, ovate or shallowly obcordate, 10–15(–20) mm; filaments 10–15 mm, anthers 4–7 mm; style 17–42 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers at anthesis. |
usually 1 or 2, rarely more, opening per day near sunset, fading next morning, sometimes (subspp. |
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Capsules | ascending to erect, straight, fusiform, weakly 4-angled, 10–20 × 3–5 mm, dehiscent 1/2 their length; sessile. |
papery in age, narrowly ellipsoid to lanceoloid, sometimes twisted (subsp. fremontii), winged, wings (2–)10–28(–34) mm wide, body (13–)25–70(–115) × 2–9 mm, dehiscent 1/4–1/3 their length; pedicel 1–12(–25) mm. |
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Seeds | in 2 rows per locule, ellipsoid to subglobose, 1.5–2 × 1.2–1.5 mm, surface regularly pitted, pits in longitudinal lines. |
numerous, rarely as few as 8, in 1 row per locule, obovoid, (2–)3–5 × 1–2.3 mm. |
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Macrocarpa | and oklahomensis) lasting for 2 days, weakly scented; buds with unequal free tips 1–11(–15) mm; floral tube (21–)35–140(–160) mm; sepals (20–)25–65(–75) mm; petals bright yellow, fading orange, reddish orange or mostly unchanged, obovate to very broadly obovate, (17–)25–65(–68) mm, usually with terminal notch and/or tooth, margin sometimes erose; filaments 13–40(–44) mm, anthers 10–24(–25) mm; style (45–)55–192 mm, stigma usually exserted beyond anthers at anthesis. |
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2n | = 14, 28. |
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Oenothera coronopifolia |
Oenothera macrocarpa |
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Phenology | Flowering (Mar–)Jun–Aug(–Sep). | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Dry, open sites, grassy meadows, slopes, along drainages, foothills and mountains. | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 1500–3000 m. (4900–9800 ft.) | |||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AZ; CO; ID; NE; NM; SD; UT; WY
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c United States; n Mexico; s United States
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Discussion | Oenothera coronopifolia apparently has both self-incompatible and self-compatible populations (P. H. Raven 1979; W. L. Wagner et al. 2007; K. E. Theiss et al. 2010). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Subspecies 5 (4 in the flora). Oenotheramacrocarpa is variable and has differentiated extensively in the Great Plains region. Each of the five distinctive subspecies occupies a different geographical and ecological situation. Only subsp. mexicana W. L. Wagner from Coahuila, Mexico, occurs outside of the flora area. In general, the subspecies are sharply distinct and each is characterized by a number of features, including pubescence, leaf features, flower and floral tube size, and size and morphology of the capsules and seeds. The five entities are treated as subspecies primarily because of their complete interfertility and extensive intergradation in any area of marginal contact. Intermediates are known between subsp. macrocarpa and subspp. fremontii and oklahomensis and between subspp. incana and oklahomensis. There is also some evidence that suggests past hybridization between subspp. fremontii and incana although there is no present contact between them. All subspecies are self-incompatible. Oenothera alata Nuttall (1818) is an illegitimate name based on O. macrocarpa and pertains here. (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. Kleinia | Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Megapterium | ||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Anogra coronopifolia | Megapterium macrocarpum, M. nuttallianum | ||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 495. (1840) | Nuttall: Cat. Pl. Upper Louisiana, no. 56. (1813) | ||||||||||||||||
Web links |