Oenothera curtiflora |
Oenothera pubescens |
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lizard-tail, small-flower bee-blossom, small-flower gaura, velvet weed |
pubescent evening primrose, silky evening primrose, South American 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 biennial, densely to sparsely strigillose, sometimes also villous and glandular puberulent distally; from a taproot. |
Stems | erect, unbranched or many-branched distally, (20–)30–200(–300) cm. |
unbranched or with branched central stem and ascending to decumbent lateral branches arising from rosette, 5–50(–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 5–14 × 0.5–2.5 cm, cauline 2–8 × 0.5–2.5 cm; blade narrowly oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic or narrowly oblong, margins usually dentate to deeply lobed; 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 with free tips erect, 0.1–1 mm; floral tube erect, becoming recurved and nodding, then erect again just before anthesis, 15–50 mm; sepals 5–25 mm; petals yellow, fading reddish orange, broadly obovate to obcordate, 5–25(–35) mm; filaments 6–18 mm, anthers (2–)3–9 mm, pollen ca. 50% fertile; style 20–60 mm, stigma surrounded by or slightly 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. |
cylindrical, sometimes slightly enlarged distally, 20–45 ×2–4 mm. |
Seeds | 3 or 4, reddish brown, 2–3 × 1–1.5 mm. |
brown, sometimes dark-flecked, 0.9–1.5 × 0.6–1 mm. |
2n | = 14. |
= 14. |
Oenothera curtiflora |
Oenothera pubescens |
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Phenology | Flowering (Feb–)Apr–Oct. | Flowering (Feb–)Apr–Sep(–Oct). |
Habitat | Rocky prairie slopes, woodlands, along streams, roadsides, disturbed areas. | Open sites in montane habitats. |
Elevation | 10–2800 m. (0–9200 ft.) | (1300–)1500–2500(–3100) m. ((4300–)4900–8200(–10200) 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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AZ; NM; TX; Mexico; West Indies; Central America (Guatemala); South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru)
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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 pubescens 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). Oenothera pubescens has been collected once in California in 1884 (Newberry Springs, San Bernardino County), where it was temporarily introduced or a natural occurrence that was extirpated. Collections from west Texas (Brewster, Jeff Davis, and Presidio counties) have been made since 1990 and a few others collected earlier were misidentified as O. laciniata. (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. Nutantigemma |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Gaura parviflora, G. australis, G. hirsuta, G. micrantha, G. parviflora var. lachnocarpa, Schizocarya micrantha | Anogra amplexicaulis, O. amplexicaulis, O. laciniata subsp. pubescens, Var. o. var. o., O. nyctaginiifolia, O. stuebelii, Raimannia colimae, R. confusa |
Name authority | W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 211. (2007) | Willdenow ex Sprengel: Syst. Veg. 2: 229. (1825) |
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