Oenothera curtiflora |
Oenothera cinerea |
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lizard-tail, small-flower bee-blossom, small-flower gaura, velvet weed |
high-plains beeblossom, woolly beeblossom |
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Habit | Herbs annual, strigillose, glandular puberulent, and long-villous; from heavy taproot, 2–4 cm diam. | Herbs suffrutescent, densely soft-villous, hairs mostly appressed, 2–3 mm, becoming less villous distally, also strigillose, rarely glandular puberulent or hispidulous, plant parts grayish green; from deep, twisted, woody rootstock. | ||||
Stems | erect, unbranched or many-branched distally, (20–)30–200(–300) cm. |
erect, several-branched near ground, also branched proximal to inflorescences, 60–280 cm. |
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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. |
in a basal rosette and cauline, 0.5–8 × 0.15–2 cm, sessile, blade narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate to very narrowly elliptic or linear, margins usually subentire or shallowly sinuate-dentate, sometimes deeply sinuate-dentate, often undulate. |
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Inflorescences | relatively long, dense. |
slender. |
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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. |
4-merous, zygomorphic, opening near sunset; floral tube 1.5–5 mm; sepals 6–14 mm; petals white, fading pink to red, slightly unequal, elliptic, 7–13 mm, clawed; stamens presented in lower 1/2 of flower, filaments 4.5–11 mm, anthers 2–4.5 mm, pollen 90–100% fertile; style 9–19 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers at anthesis. |
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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. |
lanceoloid to narrowly ovoid, 4-winged, 9–19 × 1–3.5 mm, abruptly constricted to a long, sterile stipe 2–10 mm. |
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Seeds | 3 or 4, reddish brown, 2–3 × 1–1.5 mm. |
(1 or)2–4, 2–3(–4) × 0.8–1.3 mm, yellowish to light brown or rarely reddish brown. |
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2n | = 14. |
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Oenothera curtiflora |
Oenothera cinerea |
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Phenology | Flowering (Feb–)Apr–Oct. | |||||
Habitat | Rocky prairie slopes, woodlands, along streams, roadsides, disturbed areas. | |||||
Elevation | 10–2800 m. (0–9200 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]
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sc United States
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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.) |
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). P. H. Raven and D. P. Gregory (1972[1973]) determined Oenothera cinerea to be self-incompatible. The two subspecies recognized here have disjunct distributions but are very similar morphologically. (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. Gaura > subsect. Schizocarya | Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Gaura > subsect. Stipogaura | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Gaura parviflora, G. australis, G. hirsuta, G. micrantha, G. parviflora var. lachnocarpa, Schizocarya micrantha | Gaura cinerea | ||||
Name authority | W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 211. (2007) | (Wooton & Standley) W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 211. (2007) | ||||
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