Oenothera dodgeniana
Oenothera californica
California evening primrose
1 or few-branched from base, 50–120 cm.
ascending or decumbent, usually branched from near base, sometimes new rosettes forming at branch apex when buried in drifting sand, 10–60 cm.
in a basal rosette and cauline, basal 6–20 × 1–3 cm, blade lanceolate to narrowly elliptic;
cauline 5–10 × 1–2.5 cm, blade lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, margins subentire or repand-denticulate.
in a basal rosette and cauline, rosette sometimes weakly developed or absent, at least during flowering, 1–13 × 0.5–2 cm;
petiole 0–2(–4.5) cm;
blade oblong to oblanceolate or spatulate, sometimes rhombic-ovate, margins entire or weakly to conspicuously dentate or pinnatifid.
4-merous, zygomorphic, opening at sunset;
floral tube 10–11 mm;
sepals 11–15 mm;
petals white, fading pink, rhombic-obovate, 11–14 mm;
filaments 6.5–9 mm, anthers 2.5–4 mm, pollen 90–100% fertile;
style 22–28 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers.
1–several opening per day near sunset;
buds nodding, weakly quadrangular, with free tips 0–0.8 mm;
floral tube 20–40 mm;
sepals 15–30 mm, not spotted;
petals white, fading pink to deep pink, broadly obcordate, 15–35(–40) mm;
filaments 10–17 mm, anthers 5–10 mm;
style 30–60 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers at anthesis.
ellipsoid or ovoid, sharply 4-angled, with deep furrows alternating with angles for 2–3 mm from apex, ribbed from base of furrow to base of fruit, 9–11 × 3–5 mm;
sessile.
spreading to ascending, woody in age, often curved upward, cylindrical, obtusely 4-angled, tapering slightly from base to apex, 20–80 × 2–3.5 mm;
sessile.
2–4, yellowish to light brown, 2–3 mm.
numerous, in 1 row per locule, olive-brown or yellowish brown to black, sometimes with minute purple dots, obovoid, 1–2.5 mm.
= 14.
Oenothera dodgeniana
Oenothera californica
Oenothera dodgeniana occurs in two disjunct areas: the western foothills of the San Juan Mountains in Archuleta and Huerfano counties, Colorado, and Rio Arriba County, New Mexico; and Sierra Blanca and Sacramento Mountains in Lincoln and Otero counties, south-central New Mexico. The species was collected once at Durango, La Plata County, Colorado (P. H. Raven and D. P. Gregory 1972[1973]), but has not since been recollected. Oenothera dodgeniana and O. coloradensis were considered by Raven and Gregory to represent a relict species along the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains that arose from more widespread species farther to the east, such as O. filiformis. Oenothera dodgeniana belongs to a subclade which is sister to that containing O. coloradensis, and within that subclade is sister to O. demareei and O. lindheimeri (W. L. Wagner et al. 2013). Although O. dodgeniana is fairly closely related to O. coloradensis, the two taxa seem to have had independent origins that have led to distributions along the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains. Oenothera dodgeniana is self-compatible (Raven and Gregory).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).
Most populations of Oenothera californica are self-incompatible (W. L. Wagner et al. 2007; K. E. Theiss et al. 2010), but some populations of subsp. californica are self-compatible. All chromosome counts indicate that subspp. avita and eurekensis are diploid (2n = 14) and those of subsp. californica are tetraploid (2n = 28). Oenothera californica is polymorphic with subspp. avita and californica being very similar, and differing primarily in ecology, distribution, and relatively minor differences in leaf morphology and ploidy level, while the sand dune-restricted subsp. eurekensis is more distinctive in both morphology and habitat.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Plants with fleshy underground horizontal rootstocks; stems sometimes with new rosettes forming at stem apex when becoming buried in drifting sand; leaf blades rhombic-ovate to oblanceolate, margins entire or weakly dentate. | subsp. eurekensis |
1. Plants with a taproot and adventitious shoots from lateral roots; stems not with new rosettes forming at branch apex; leaf blades oblong to oblanceolate to spatulate, margins entire or weakly to conspicuously dentate or pinnatifid. | → 2 |
2. Leaf blade margins usually entire or weakly dentate, sometimes more conspicuously dentate to pinnatifid; capsules 30–55 mm. | subsp. californica |
2. Leaf blade margins conspicuously dentate to pinnatifid, rarely some or all of them entire or weakly dentate; capsules 20–80 mm. | subsp. avita |
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
CA
USDA Plants Database
