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

Havard's evening primrose

Habit Herbs annual, strigillose, glandular puberulent, and long-villous; from heavy taproot, 2–4 cm diam. Herbs compact to sprawling, strigillose; from a taproot, lateral roots producing adventitious shoots.
Stems

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

usually many-branched, sometimes unbranched, often twining among vegetation, sometimes rooting at nodes, 5–25(–70) 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 usually quickly deciduous, (1–)2–5 × (0.2–)0.5–1.5 cm;

petiole 0–0.6 cm;

blade oblanceolate, linear-lanceolate to linear distally, margins few toothed to pinnately lobed to sinuate-dentate distally.

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–few opening per day near sunset;

buds often twisted, free tips coherent;

floral tube (37–)45–60(–65) mm;

sepals (16–)18–26(–30) mm;

petals lemon-yellow, fading orange-red to reddish purple, usually elliptic, sometimes oblanceolate, (18–)21–30(–32) mm;

filaments 15–18(–22) mm, anthers red, 6–13 mm;

style (55–)65–86(–94) 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.

woody, narrowly ovoid to ovoid, 4-angled, 8–13(–16) × 3–4 mm, apex tapering to a short sterile beak 2–3 mm, valves with a prominent, broad midrib and capsule appearing 8-ribbed, tardily dehiscent ca. 1/3 capsule length.

Seeds

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

2–2.5(–3.3) × 1.2–1.5 mm, sometimes with a small wing at distal end or a raised ridge along one longitudinal margin.

2n

= 14.

= 14, 28.

Oenothera curtiflora

Oenothera havardii

Phenology Flowering (Feb–)Apr–Oct. Flowering Apr–Oct.
Habitat Rocky prairie slopes, woodlands, along streams, roadsides, disturbed areas. In depressions, seasonally wet flats, stream banks, margins of irrigated fields, sandy or clay soil, among tufted grasses like Sporobolus wrightii, primarily in Chihuahuan Desert.
Elevation 10–2800 m. (0–9200 ft.) 1300–2000 m. (4300–6600 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
AZ; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango, Sonora, Zacatecas)
[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 havardii ranges from Brewster and Presidio counties, Texas, and Cochise County, Arizona, south to Durango and Zacatecas, Mexico. W. L. Wagner (1984) found that O. havardii is self-incompatible and vespertine.

(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. Paradoxus
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. glazioviana, O. grandiflora, O. grandis, O. harringtonii, O. hartwegii, 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 Hartmannia havardii, H. palmeri
Name authority W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 211. (2007) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 20: 366. (1885) — (as havardi)
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