Oenothera curtiflora |
Oenothera humifusa |
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lizard-tail, small-flower bee-blossom, small-flower gaura, velvet weed |
seabeach evening-primrose |
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Habit | Herbs annual, strigillose, glandular puberulent, and long-villous; from heavy taproot, 2–4 cm diam. | Herbs annual or short-lived perennial, densely strigillose, sometimes also villous, also becoming glandular puberulent distally. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or many-branched distally, (20–)30–200(–300) cm. |
erect to decumbent, much branched, 10–50(–90) 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 4–8 × 0.7–1 cm, cauline 1–7 × 0.3–1.5 cm; blade usually grayish green, narrowly oblong to narrowly elliptic or narrowly obovate, margins remotely shallowly dentate to subentire; bracts spreading, flat. |
Inflorescences | relatively long, dense. |
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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. |
usually 1 opening per day near sunset; buds erect, with free tips erect and appressed or slightly spreading, 0.5–2 mm; floral tube 15–35 mm; sepals3–11 mm; petals yellow, very broadly obovate or obcordate, 4.5–16 mm; filaments 4–11 mm, anthers 2–5.5 mm, pollen ca. 50% fertile; style 23–45 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. |
cylindrical, sometimes slightly enlarged toward apex, 15–45 × 2–3 mm. |
Seeds | 3 or 4, reddish brown, 2–3 × 1–1.5 mm. |
usually ellipsoid to broadly ellipsoid, rarely subglobose, 1–2 × 0.5–0.9 mm. |
2n | = 14. |
= 14. |
Oenothera curtiflora |
Oenothera humifusa |
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Phenology | Flowering (Feb–)Apr–Oct. | Flowering Apr–Nov. |
Habitat | Rocky prairie slopes, woodlands, along streams, roadsides, disturbed areas. | Dunes, open sandy places along or near Atlantic coast. |
Elevation | 10–2800 m. (0–9200 ft.) | 0–10 m. (0–0 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; DE; FL; GA; LA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; PA; SC; VA; Dunes; open sandy places along or near Atlantic coast; West Indies (Cuba); Bermuda
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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.) |
Oenothera humifusa 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). The inland collection from Iredell County, North Carolina, presumably represents an introduction. There are two geographically separated morphological forms of O. humifusa. Plants of one form are somewhat decumbent, with subentire cauline leaves and bracts; this form occurs in the southern part of the range. The other form is more upright, with more deeply divided leaves; it occurs from North Carolina northward. (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. Raimannia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Gaura parviflora, G. australis, G. hirsuta, G. micrantha, G. parviflora var. lachnocarpa, Schizocarya micrantha | O. niveifolia, O. sinuata var. humifusa, Raimannia humifusa |
Name authority | W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 211. (2007) | Nuttall: Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 1: 245. (1818) |
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