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lizard-tail, small-flower bee-blossom, small-flower gaura, velvet weed

garden evening-primrose, large-flower evening primrose, red-sepal evening-primrose

Habit Herbs annual, strigillose, glandular puberulent, and long-villous; from heavy taproot, 2–4 cm diam. Herbs biennial, densely to sparsely strigillose and villous, with spreading, red-pustulate hairs, also glandular puberulent and with only a few appressed hairs near inflorescence.
Stems

erect, unbranched or many-branched distally, (20–)30–200(–300) cm.

erect, green or flushed with red on proximal parts, sometimes inflorescence axis red, usually withside branches obliquely arising from rosette and secondary branches from main stem, 50–150 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 13–30 × 3–5 cm, cauline 5–15 × 2.5–4 cm;

blade dark to bright green, white- or red-veined, narrowly oblanceolate to oblanceolate, sometimes narrowly elliptic to lanceolate distally, margins usually conspicuously crinkled, sometimes undulate, bluntly dentate, teeth widely spaced, sometimes sinuate-dentate proximally or lobed;

bracts persistent.

Inflorescences

relatively long, dense.

erect, unbranched.

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.

opening near sunset;

buds erect, 7–9 mm diam., with free tips terminal, erect to spreading, 5–8 mm;

floral tube 35–50 mm;

sepals yellowish green, usually flushed with red or red-striped, sometimes very dark red throughout, 28–45 mm;

petals yellow to pale yellow, fading yellowish white and somewhat translucent, very broadly obcordate, 35–50 mm;

filaments 17–25 mm, anthers 10–12 mm, pollen ca. 50% fertile;

style 50–80 mm, stigma exserted beyond 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.

erect or slightly spreading, dull green when dry, lanceoloid, 20–35 × 5–6 mm, free tips of valves 0.8–1.5 mm.

Seeds

3 or 4, reddish brown, 2–3 × 1–1.5 mm.

1.3–2 ×1–1.5 mm, ca. 50% abortive.

2n

= 14.

= 14.

Oenothera curtiflora

Oenothera glazioviana

Phenology Flowering (Feb–)Apr–Oct. Flowering (Jun–)Jul–Sep(–Oct).
Habitat Rocky prairie slopes, woodlands, along streams, roadsides, disturbed areas. Open, disturbed sites.
Elevation 10–2800 m. (0–9200 ft.) 20–600(–1400) m. (100–2000(–4600) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
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]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CA; CT; IL; IN; MA; ME; MI; MT; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OR; PA; RI; VT; WA; WI; WV; BC; MB; NS; ON; QC [Introduced in North America; introduced nearly worldwide in temperate and subtropical regions]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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 glazioviana originated by hybridization between two cultivated or naturalized species in Europe and was introduced into the horticultural trade by Carter and Company of England in 1860 (R. E. Cleland 1972; P. H. Raven et al. 1979). The oldest name applied to this entity was based on plants cultivated in Rio de Janeiro in 1868; clearly, O. glazioviana must have spread very rapidly.

Oenothera glazioviana is a PTH species and forms a ring of 12 chromosomes and 1 bivalent in meiosis, and is self-compatible and autogamous (W. Dietrich et al. 1997). It has plastome II or III and a AB genome composition.

(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. Oenothera
Sibling taxa
O. acutissima, O. albicaulis, O. argillicola, O. arida, O. arizonica, O. biennis, O. boquillensis, O. brachycarpa, O. calcicola, O. californica, O. canescens, O. capillifolia, O. cavernae, O. cespitosa, O. cinerea, O. clelandii, O. coloradensis, O. cordata, O. coronopifolia, O. coryi, O. curtissii, O. deltoides, O. demareei, O. dodgeniana, O. drummondii, O. elata, O. engelmannii, O. falfurriae, O. filiformis, O. filipes, O. flava, O. fruticosa, O. gaura, O. gayleana, O. glaucifolia, O. glazioviana, O. grandiflora, O. grandis, O. harringtonii, O. hartwegii, O. havardii, O. heterophylla, O. hispida, O. howardii, O. humifusa, O. jamesii, O. kunthiana, O. laciniata, O. lavandulifolia, O. lindheimeri, O. linifolia, O. longissima, O. macrocarpa, O. mckelveyae, O. mexicana, O. nealleyi, O. neomexicana, O. nutans, O. nuttallii, O. oakesiana, O. organensis, O. pallida, O. parviflora, O. patriciae, O. perennis, O. pilosella, O. platanorum, O. podocarpa, O. primiveris, O. psammophila, O. pubescens, O. rhombipetala, O. riparia, O. rosea, O. serrulata, O. sessilis, O. simulans, O. sinuosa, O. spachiana, O. speciosa, O. stricta, O. suffrutescens, O. suffulta, O. tetraptera, O. texensis, O. toumeyi, O. triangulata, O. triloba, O. tubicula, O. villosa, O. wolfii, O. xylocarpa
O. acutissima, O. albicaulis, O. argillicola, O. arida, O. arizonica, O. biennis, O. boquillensis, O. brachycarpa, O. calcicola, O. californica, O. canescens, O. capillifolia, O. cavernae, O. cespitosa, O. cinerea, O. clelandii, O. coloradensis, O. cordata, O. coronopifolia, O. coryi, O. curtiflora, O. curtissii, O. deltoides, O. demareei, O. dodgeniana, O. drummondii, O. elata, O. engelmannii, O. falfurriae, O. filiformis, O. filipes, O. flava, O. fruticosa, O. gaura, O. gayleana, O. glaucifolia, O. grandiflora, O. grandis, O. harringtonii, O. hartwegii, O. havardii, O. heterophylla, O. hispida, O. howardii, O. humifusa, O. jamesii, O. kunthiana, O. laciniata, O. lavandulifolia, O. lindheimeri, O. linifolia, O. longissima, O. macrocarpa, O. mckelveyae, O. mexicana, O. nealleyi, O. neomexicana, O. nutans, O. nuttallii, O. oakesiana, O. organensis, O. pallida, O. parviflora, O. patriciae, O. perennis, O. pilosella, O. platanorum, O. podocarpa, O. primiveris, O. psammophila, O. pubescens, O. rhombipetala, O. riparia, O. rosea, O. serrulata, O. sessilis, O. simulans, O. sinuosa, O. spachiana, O. speciosa, O. stricta, O. suffrutescens, O. suffulta, O. tetraptera, O. texensis, O. toumeyi, O. triangulata, O. triloba, O. tubicula, O. villosa, O. wolfii, O. xylocarpa
Synonyms Gaura parviflora, G. australis, G. hirsuta, G. micrantha, G. parviflora var. lachnocarpa, Schizocarya micrantha O. erythrosepala, O. grandiflora subsp. erythrosepala, Onagra erythrosepala
Name authority W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 211. (2007) Micheli in C. F. P. von Martius et al.: Fl. Brasil. 13(2): 178. (1875)
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