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garden evening-primrose, large-flower evening primrose, red-sepal evening-primrose

Habit Herbs perennial, sometimes suffrutescent, usually strigillose, sometimes glabrous; from a stout taproot. Herbs biennial, densely to sparsely strigillose and villous, with spreading, red-pustulate hairs, also glandular puberulent and with only a few appressed hairs near inflorescence.
Stems

many, ascending to erect, branched from base, 15–30(–40) cm.

erect, green or flushed with red on proximal parts, sometimes inflorescence axis red, usually withside branches obliquely arising from rosette and secondary branches from main stem, 50–150 cm.

Leaves

2.5–3.5 × 0.1–0.2 cm, rarely fascicles of small leaves present in non-flowering axils;

petiole 0–0.1 cm;

blade linear to narrowly linear-lanceolate, folded lengthwise, base long-attenuate, margins subentire or serrulate, apex acute.

in a basal rosette and cauline, basal 13–30 × 3–5 cm, cauline 5–15 × 2.5–4 cm;

blade dark to bright green, white- or red-veined, narrowly oblanceolate to oblanceolate, sometimes narrowly elliptic to lanceolate distally, margins usually conspicuously crinkled, sometimes undulate, bluntly dentate, teeth widely spaced, sometimes sinuate-dentate proximally or lobed;

bracts persistent.

Inflorescences

erect, unbranched.

Flowers

opening near sunrise;

buds with free tips 0–0.5 mm;

floral tube 7 mm;

sepals 4–6 mm, midribs keeled;

petals yellow, fading yellow to orange, 15–20 mm; antisepalous filaments 5 mm, antipetalous filaments 2 mm, anthers 3–4 mm, pollen 90–100% fertile;

style 10 mm, stigma discoid to quadrangular, exserted beyond anthers at anthesis.

opening near sunset;

buds erect, 7–9 mm diam., with free tips terminal, erect to spreading, 5–8 mm;

floral tube 35–50 mm;

sepals yellowish green, usually flushed with red or red-striped, sometimes very dark red throughout, 28–45 mm;

petals yellow to pale yellow, fading yellowish white and somewhat translucent, very broadly obcordate, 35–50 mm;

filaments 17–25 mm, anthers 10–12 mm, pollen ca. 50% fertile;

style 50–80 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers at anthesis.

Capsules

18–20 × 2 mm, hard, dehiscent 1/2 their length, often tardily dehiscent throughout their length.

erect or slightly spreading, dull green when dry, lanceoloid, 20–35 × 5–6 mm, free tips of valves 0.8–1.5 mm.

Seeds

oblanceoloid, 1–1.8 mm, sharply angled, apex truncate.

1.3–2 ×1–1.5 mm, ca. 50% abortive.

2n

= 14.

= 14.

Oenothera gayleana

Oenothera glazioviana

Phenology Flowering May–Sep. Flowering (Jun–)Jul–Sep(–Oct).
Habitat Gypsum outcrops. Open, disturbed sites.
Elevation 500–1400 m. (1600–4600 ft.) 20–600(–1400) m. (100–2000(–4600) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
NM; TX
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CA; CT; IL; IN; MA; ME; MI; MT; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OR; PA; RI; VT; WA; WI; WV; BC; MB; NS; ON; QC [Introduced in North America; introduced nearly worldwide in temperate and subtropical regions]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Oenothera gayleana is a recently discovered gypsum endemic known only from scattered outcrops from De Baca and Eddy counties in New Mexico, and Culberson County in Texas. When published, the delimitation of O. gayleana included populations in Collinsworth and Dickens counties in the Texas panhandle, and adjacent Harmon County in Oklahoma. Subsequent study (B. Cooper et al., unpubl.) has determined they are actually O. serrulata.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Oenothera glazioviana originated by hybridization between two cultivated or naturalized species in Europe and was introduced into the horticultural trade by Carter and Company of England in 1860 (R. E. Cleland 1972; P. H. Raven et al. 1979). The oldest name applied to this entity was based on plants cultivated in Rio de Janeiro in 1868; clearly, O. glazioviana must have spread very rapidly.

Oenothera glazioviana is a PTH species and forms a ring of 12 chromosomes and 1 bivalent in meiosis, and is self-compatible and autogamous (W. Dietrich et al. 1997). It has plastome II or III and a AB genome composition.

(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. Calylophus > subsect. Calylophus Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Oenothera > subsect. Oenothera
Sibling taxa
O. acutissima, O. albicaulis, O. argillicola, O. arida, O. arizonica, O. biennis, O. boquillensis, O. brachycarpa, O. calcicola, O. californica, O. canescens, O. capillifolia, O. cavernae, O. cespitosa, O. cinerea, O. clelandii, O. coloradensis, O. cordata, O. coronopifolia, O. coryi, O. curtiflora, O. curtissii, O. deltoides, O. demareei, O. dodgeniana, O. drummondii, O. elata, O. engelmannii, O. falfurriae, O. filiformis, O. filipes, O. flava, O. fruticosa, O. gaura, O. glaucifolia, O. glazioviana, O. grandiflora, O. grandis, O. harringtonii, O. hartwegii, O. havardii, O. heterophylla, O. hispida, O. howardii, O. humifusa, O. jamesii, O. kunthiana, O. laciniata, O. lavandulifolia, O. lindheimeri, O. linifolia, O. longissima, O. macrocarpa, O. mckelveyae, O. mexicana, O. nealleyi, O. neomexicana, O. nutans, O. nuttallii, O. oakesiana, O. organensis, O. pallida, O. parviflora, O. patriciae, O. perennis, O. pilosella, O. platanorum, O. podocarpa, O. primiveris, O. psammophila, O. pubescens, O. rhombipetala, O. riparia, O. rosea, O. serrulata, O. sessilis, O. simulans, O. sinuosa, O. spachiana, O. speciosa, O. stricta, O. suffrutescens, O. suffulta, O. tetraptera, O. texensis, O. toumeyi, O. triangulata, O. triloba, O. tubicula, O. villosa, O. wolfii, O. xylocarpa
O. acutissima, O. albicaulis, O. argillicola, O. arida, O. arizonica, O. biennis, O. boquillensis, O. brachycarpa, O. calcicola, O. californica, O. canescens, O. capillifolia, O. cavernae, O. cespitosa, O. cinerea, O. clelandii, O. coloradensis, O. cordata, O. coronopifolia, O. coryi, O. curtiflora, O. curtissii, O. deltoides, O. demareei, O. dodgeniana, O. drummondii, O. elata, O. engelmannii, O. falfurriae, O. filiformis, O. filipes, O. flava, O. fruticosa, O. gaura, O. gayleana, O. glaucifolia, O. grandiflora, O. grandis, O. harringtonii, O. hartwegii, O. havardii, O. heterophylla, O. hispida, O. howardii, O. humifusa, O. jamesii, O. kunthiana, O. laciniata, O. lavandulifolia, O. lindheimeri, O. linifolia, O. longissima, O. macrocarpa, O. mckelveyae, O. mexicana, O. nealleyi, O. neomexicana, O. nutans, O. nuttallii, O. oakesiana, O. organensis, O. pallida, O. parviflora, O. patriciae, O. perennis, O. pilosella, O. platanorum, O. podocarpa, O. primiveris, O. psammophila, O. pubescens, O. rhombipetala, O. riparia, O. rosea, O. serrulata, O. sessilis, O. simulans, O. sinuosa, O. spachiana, O. speciosa, O. stricta, O. suffrutescens, O. suffulta, O. tetraptera, O. texensis, O. toumeyi, O. triangulata, O. triloba, O. tubicula, O. villosa, O. wolfii, O. xylocarpa
Synonyms O. erythrosepala, O. grandiflora subsp. erythrosepala, Onagra erythrosepala
Name authority B. L. Turner & M. J. Moore: Phytologia 96: 200, figs. 1, 2. (2014) Micheli in C. F. P. von Martius et al.: Fl. Brasil. 13(2): 178. (1875)
Web links