Oenothera deltoides
Calylophus tubicula
(synonym of Oenothera tubicula)
basket evening-primrose, birdcage evening primrose, desert lantern, devil's lantern, dune primrose, hairy evening primrose, lion-in-a-cage
central stem usually erect, usually thickened at base and spongy, branched or unbranched, branches few–several, slender, decumbent to ascending, from base, usually encircling central stem in older plants, 10–40(–100) cm.
in a basal rosette and cauline, rosette usually well developed (except subsp. howellii), basal 5–25 × 1–5 cm, cauline 4–12(–18) × 0.5–4 cm;
petiole 1.5–8 cm;
blade rhombic-obovate, lanceolate, or oblanceolate, margins subentire, dentate, or pinnatifid.
1–several opening per day near sunset;
buds nodding, weakly or strongly quadrangular or fluted in distal 1/2, with free tips 0–9 mm;
floral tube 20–40 mm;
sepals (13–)15–35 mm, not spotted;
petals white, fading pink to deep pink, broadly obovate or obcordate, 15–44 mm;
filaments 8–15 mm, anthers 5–14 mm;
style 35–60 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers at anthesis.
spreading, straight to curved, becoming somewhat woody in age, cylindrical to slightly 4-angled, widest toward base, tapering from base to apex, (15–)30–80 × 1.5–5 mm;
sessile.
numerous, in 1 row per locule, buff with dark spots or black, narrowly obovoid, 1.5–2.8 mm.
Oenothera deltoides
Calylophus tubicula
Subspecies 5 (5 in the flora).
Oenothera deltoides is self-incompatible or self-compatible (W. M. Klein 1964; W. L. Wagner et al. 2007; K. E. Theiss et al. 2010).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Subspecies 2 (1 in the flora).
H. F. Towner (1977) found that Oenothera tubicula is self-incompatible and diurnal with opening times just prior to sunrise. It occurs primarily on limestone soil in arid lowlands, but occasionally in montane areas, from Guadalupe County, New Mexico, south to western Texas, northeast to Howard County, Texas, and south to northern Zacatecas, south-central Nuevo León, and southwestern Tamaulipas, 600–1800 m. Subspecies strigulosa (Towner) W. L. Wagner & Hoch is known only from rocky, open sites and canyons in relatively montane areas, sometimes in pine forests in southernmost Coahuila, south-central Nuevo León, and southeastern Tamaulipas, from 1500 to 2300 m. It differs in being strigillose on the ovary and distally on stems, leaves linear to narrowly lanceolate, and the petals fading red or purple.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Herbs perennial, from long, fleshy roots; stems not thickened at base, branches erect or ascending, not encircling stems in older plants. | subsp. howellii |
1. Herbs annual or short-lived perennial from a taproot; stems usually thickened at base, branches ascending or decumbent, often encircling stems in older plants. | → 2 |
2. Flower buds fluted or strongly quadrangular in distal 1/2, without free tips, villous with curly hairs, sometimes glabrous; leaf blade margins sinuate-dentate to pinnatifid; petals 15–25(–30) mm; capsules 15–25(–30) mm. | subsp. piperi |
2. Flower buds weakly or strongly quadrangular in distal 1/2, with free tips 0–3 mm, strigillose, sparsely to moderately villous, or glabrous; leaf blade margins sinuate-dentate or subentire, rarely pinnatifid; petals 15–44 mm; capsules 40–80 mm. | → 3 |
3. Flower buds with free tips 1–3 mm, quadrangular in distal 1/2; plants strigillose, especially distally. | subsp. ambigua |
3. Flower buds with free tips 0–1.5 mm, weakly quadrangular in distal 1/2; plants glabrous, villous, or strigillose. | → 4 |
4. Herbs annual, strigillose, sometimes also villous; capsules 2–3.5 mm diam.; flower buds with free tips 0–1.5 mm. | subsp. deltoides |
4. Herbs short-lived perennial or sometimes annual, glabrous or sparsely villous, rarely also strigillose; capsules 3–5 mm diam.; flower buds without free tips. | subsp. cognata |
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
