Oenothera curtiflora |
Oenothera curtissii |
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lizard-tail, small-flower bee-blossom, small-flower gaura, velvet weed |
Curtiss' evening primrose |
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Habit | Herbs annual, strigillose, glandular puberulent, and long-villous; from heavy taproot, 2–4 cm diam. | Herbs biennial or short-lived perennial, densely to sparsely strigillose, sometimes also sparsely glandular puberulent distally. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or many-branched distally, (20–)30–200(–300) cm. |
sometimes with lateral branches arisingobliquely from rosette, 30–80 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. |
in a basal rosette and cauline, basal 7–17 × 0.5–1.5 cm, cauline 2–8 × 0.5–1.5 cm; blade narrowly oblanceolate, gradually narrowly elliptic to narrowly oblong distally, margins lobed to remotely dentate or subentire; bracts slightly longer than capsule they subtend. |
Inflorescences | relatively long, dense. |
open, lax, without lateral branches, mature buds usually not overtopping spike apex. |
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 or 2 per spike opening per day near sunset; buds erect, with free tips erect to spreading, 0.3–0.8 mm; floral tube slightly curved upward to straight, 23–37 mm; sepals 7–13 mm; petals yellow, broadly elliptic to rhombic-ovate, 8–17 mm; filaments 6–10 mm, anthers 1.5–4 mm, pollen ca. 50% fertile; style 30–45 mm, stigma surrounded by anthers at anthesis. |
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. |
narrowly lanceoloid, 10–25 ×2–3 mm. |
Seeds | 3 or 4, reddish brown, 2–3 × 1–1.5 mm. |
brown, sometimes flecked with darkred spots, ellipsoid, 1–1.3 × 0.5–0.7 mm. |
2n | = 14. |
= 14. |
Oenothera curtiflora |
Oenothera curtissii |
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Phenology | Flowering (Feb–)Apr–Oct. | Flowering Jun–Sep. |
Habitat | Rocky prairie slopes, woodlands, along streams, roadsides, disturbed areas. | Dry places, pine-oak woods, fields, roadsides, sandy soil. |
Elevation | 10–2800 m. (0–9200 ft.) | 0–60 m. (0–200 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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AL; FL; GA; SC |
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 curtissii is a PTH species and forms a ring of 14 chromosomes in meiosis, and is self-compatible and autogamous (W. Dietrich and W. L. Wagner 1988). It is known only from northern Florida, adjacent southern Georgia and southeastern Alabama, and one disjunct locality in South Carolina (Allendale County). (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. Oenothera > subsect. Candela |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Gaura parviflora, G. australis, G. hirsuta, G. micrantha, G. parviflora var. lachnocarpa, Schizocarya micrantha | O. heterophylla var. curtissii |
Name authority | W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 211. (2007) | Small: Fl. S.E. U.S. ed. 2, 1353. (1913) |
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