Oenothera curtiflora |
Oenothera mckelveyae |
|
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lizard-tail, small-flower bee-blossom, small-flower gaura, velvet weed |
Mckelvey's beeblossom |
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Habit | Herbs annual, strigillose, glandular puberulent, and long-villous; from heavy taproot, 2–4 cm diam. | Herbs perennial, clumped, long-villous, more sparsely so distally, hairs erect, 2–4 mm, also strigillose, sometimes glabrate distally or also sparsely glandular puberulent; from twisted, woody rootstock. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or many-branched distally, (20–)30–200(–300) cm. |
ascending, branched below or just above ground, branched also proximal to inflorescences, 30–70(–120) 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 3–17 × 0.8–2 cm, blade oblanceolate, cauline 1–6.5 × 0.1–1.5 cm, sessile, blade narrowly oblanceolate to elliptic, margins conspicuously sinuate-dentate, often undulate. |
Inflorescences | relatively long, dense. |
slender. |
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 2–3.5 mm; sepals 6–12 mm; petals white, fading dark pink to red, slightly unequal, elliptic-obovate, 7–11 mm, long-clawed; stamens presented in lower 1/2 of flower, filaments 5–9 mm, lanate at very base, anthers 2–4 mm, pollen 90–100% fertile; style 9–16 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. |
reflexed, lanceoloid to narrowly ovoid, narrowly 4-winged, 8–19 × 1.5–2 mm, tapering to a sterile stipe 3–9 mm. |
Seeds | 3 or 4, reddish brown, 2–3 × 1–1.5 mm. |
(1 or)2–4, 2–3 × 1 mm, yellowish to reddish brown. |
2n | = 14. |
= 14. |
Oenothera curtiflora |
Oenothera mckelveyae |
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Phenology | Flowering (Feb–)Apr–Oct. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Rocky prairie slopes, woodlands, along streams, roadsides, disturbed areas. | Sandy soil. |
Elevation | 10–2800 m. (0–9200 ft.) | 0–300 m. (0–1000 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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TX; Mexico (Nuevo León, Tamaulipas) |
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 mckelveyae, on the Rio Grande Plain, is found in an area bounded by from Dimmit and LaSalle counties east to Karnes and Refugio counties in the north, southward through south Texas, extending to northeastern Tamaulipas and adjacent Nuevo León. P. H. Raven and D. P. Gregory (1972[1973]) found Oenothera mckelveyae to be self-incompatible. (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. Gaura > subsect. Stipogaura |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Gaura parviflora, G. australis, G. hirsuta, G. micrantha, G. parviflora var. lachnocarpa, Schizocarya micrantha | Gaura villosa var. mckelveyae, Gaura mckelveyae |
Name authority | W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 211. (2007) | (Munz) W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 213. (2007) |
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