Oenothera curtiflora |
Oenothera acutissima |
|
---|---|---|
lizard-tail, small-flower bee-blossom, small-flower gaura, velvet weed |
flaming Gorge evening primrose |
|
Habit | Herbs annual, strigillose, glandular puberulent, and long-villous; from heavy taproot, 2–4 cm diam. | Herbs perennial, subacaulescent or very short-caulescent, strigillose mostly along leaf margins and flower parts, also sparsely glandular puberulent, sometimes also sparsely hirsute distally; from a stout taproot, usually with several long, lateral roots often producing adventitious shoots. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or many-branched distally, (20–)30–200(–300) cm. |
(when present) ascending, (1–)several–10, densely leafy, 1–2 cm. |
Leaves | in a basal rosette and cauline, basal 4–15 × 1.5–3 cm, petiole 0–1.8 cm, blade broadly oblanceolate, margins sinuate-dentate to dentate; cauline 2–13 × 0.5–5 cm, petiole 0–2 cm, blade narrowly elliptic to narrowly ovate, margins sinuate-dentate to dentate. |
primarily in a basal rosette, 7–14(–18) × (0.3–)0.5–1(–1.5) cm, moderately thick and stiff; petiole (1.2–)3–5 cm; blade linear to very narrowly elliptic, margins irregularly and coarsely dentate or pinnately lobed, apex long-attenuate. |
Inflorescences | relatively long, dense. |
|
Flowers | 4-merous, nearly actinomorphic, opening near sunset; floral tube 1.5–5 mm; sepals 2–3.5 mm; petals white, fading pale to dark pink, slightly unequal, oblong-obovate to elliptic-oblanceolate, 1.5–3 mm, abruptly clawed; filaments 1.5–3 mm, anthers 0.5–1 mm, pollen 85–100% fertile; style 3–9 mm, stigma surrounded by anthers at anthesis. |
1–3 opening per day near sunset; buds with unequal free tips 1–3 mm; floral tube (53–)60–100 mm; sepals 26–50 mm; petals bright yellow, fading deep reddish orange, drying purplish brown, 28–50 mm; filaments 21–35 mm, anthers 9–11 mm; style 75–143 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers. |
Capsules | fusiform, terete, weakly angled in distal 1/3, angles becoming broad and rounded in proximal part, 5–11 × 1.5–3 mm, tapering abruptly toward base; sessile. |
leathery in age, oblong-oblanceoloid, narrowly winged, wings oblong, 1–2(–4) mm wide, broadest near apex, 14–18(–22) × 7–8 mm (excluding wings), apex abruptly constricted, dehiscent 1/4–1/3 their length, valve surface with inconspicuous veins; sessile. |
Seeds | 3 or 4, reddish brown, 2–3 × 1–1.5 mm. |
asymmetrically cuneiform, 2–2.5 mm. |
2n | = 14. |
= 14. |
Oenothera curtiflora |
Oenothera acutissima |
|
Phenology | Flowering (Feb–)Apr–Oct. | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Rocky prairie slopes, woodlands, along streams, roadsides, disturbed areas. | Restricted to sandy and gravelly, reddish, soil in seasonally wet sites, meadows, depressions, along arroyos, among rocks, in mixed conifer forests, sagebrush scrub. |
Elevation | 10–2800 m. (0–9200 ft.) | 1800–2400(–2600) m. (5900–7900(–8500) ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MN; MO; MT; NE; NM; NV; OK; OR; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; WA; WY; Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, Sinaloa, Zacatecas) [Introduced in South America (Argentina), Asia (China, Japan), Australia]
|
CO; UT |
Discussion | Oenothera curtiflora is self-compatible and autogamous (P. H. Raven and D. P. Gregory 1972[1973]). Sometimes it is apparently a biennial. The species is native to grassland regions and open areas across much of interior North America. The full extent of its indigenous range is not clear and collections from the eastern half of the United States (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Tennessee) and California may be more recent introductions. Gaura mollis Nuttall ex Torrey 1827 is an isonym of G. mollis E. James 1822, a suppressed name. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Oenothera acutissima is known only from the vicinity of Manila, eastern Uinta Mountains, Daggett and Duchesne counties, Utah, east to areas in and near the foothills of the Douglas and Blue mountains, in Uinta County, Utah, and Moffat County, Colorado. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 10. | FNA vol. 10. |
Parent taxa | Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Gaura > subsect. Schizocarya | Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Lavauxia > subsect. Lavauxia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Gaura parviflora, G. australis, G. hirsuta, G. micrantha, G. parviflora var. lachnocarpa, Schizocarya micrantha | O. flava var. acutissima |
Name authority | W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 211. (2007) | W. L. Wagner: Syst. Bot. 6: 153, fig. 1. (1981) |
Web links |
|