Oenothera glaucifolia |
Oenothera coloradensis |
|
---|---|---|
false gaura |
Colorado beeblossom |
|
Habit | Herbs probably biennial, glabrous, becoming sparsely to densely glandular puberulent and short-villous distally, glaucous at least in proximal parts; from stout roots. | Herbs monocarpic perennial, strigillose proximally, short-hirtellous and strigillose distally, leaves sometimes glabrate; from stout, fleshy taproot. |
Stems | erect, branched or unbranched, 30–300 cm. |
1–few-branched from base, 50–80(–100) cm. |
Leaves | in a basal rosette and cauline, basal 3–7 × 0.5–2 cm, sessile, blade oblong to oblong-lanceolate, base usually ± auriculate, margins entire; cauline 3–8(–10) × 0.4–1.8 cm, blade lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, gradually smaller, becoming linear-subulate distally. |
in a basal rosette and cauline, basal 4–18 × 1.5–4 cm, blade very narrowly elliptic, lanceolate, or oblanceolate; cauline 5–13 × 1–4 cm, blade narrowly elliptic, narrowly lanceolate, or narrowly oblanceolate, margins subentire or repand-denticulate. |
Inflorescences | long, wandlike, unbranched or branched. |
|
Flowers | 4-merous, nearly actinomorphic, opening near sunrise; floral tube 6–17 mm; sepals 4–6 mm; petals white, fading off-white or tinged pink, slightly unequal, rhombic, 4–6 mm, abruptly clawed; filaments 5–8 mm, anthers 1.5–2 mm, pollen 85–100% fertile; style 6–10, stigma exserted beyond anthers at anthesis. |
4-merous, zygomorphic, opening at sunset; floral tube 8–12 mm; sepals 9.5–13 mm; petals white, fading pink, rhombic-obovate, 7–12 mm; filaments 6.5–9 mm, anthers 2.5–4 mm, pollen 90–100% fertile; style 19–25 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers at anthesis. |
Capsules | ovoid, 4-angled, somewhat flattened, 3–4 × 1.5–2.3 mm, valves with raised midrib and conspicuous lateral veins; sessile. |
ellipsoid or ovoid, sharply 4-angled, with fairly deep furrows alternating with angles, 6–8.5 × 2–3 mm; sessile. |
Seeds | 1, pale yellow, oblanceoloid, 2.4–2.6 × 1–1.5 mm. |
1–4, yellowish to light brown, 2–3 × 1 mm. |
2n | = 14. |
= 14. |
Oenothera glaucifolia |
Oenothera coloradensis |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Oct(–Nov). | Flowering Jul–Sep. |
Habitat | Rocky prairie slopes and outcrops or bluffs, along streams, roadsides, usuallyon limestone. | In wet meadow vegetation of North and South Platte River watersheds on high plains, sloping floodplains, drainage basins in heavy soil. |
Elevation | 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) | 1500–2000 m. (4900–6600 ft.) |
Distribution |
AR; CO; KS; MO; NE; NM; OK; TX; WY
|
CO; NE; WY |
Discussion | Oenothera glaucifolia is self-incompatible, the flowers diurnal, pollinated primarily by wasps (R. Clinebell, unpubl.), as well as bees, flies, butterflies, and occasionally beetles (summarized by W. L. Wagner et al. 2007). It was collected once in 1988 in Indiana at Miller Woods Visitor Center (Lake County), Dritz 596 (MOR); it seems likely that it was introduced, and has not been collected there since. Stenosiphon virgatus Spach is a superfluous name and pertains here. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Oenothera coloradensis is currently known from fewer than two dozen populations from southern Laramie and Platte counties in Wyoming, northern Weld County, Colorado, formerly near Fort Collins, Larimer County, Colorado, and in western Kimball County, Nebraska. It is federally listed as a threatened species in the United States. The primary threats are agricultural use of habitat, herbicide spraying to control weed species, and livestock trampling and grazing (see W. L. Wagner et al. 2013). Recent study by K. N. Krakos (unpubl.) has determined this species to be self-compatible. P. H. Raven and D. P. Gregory (1972[1973]) described this species as glandular puberulent in inflorescence, which was repeated in the recent revised taxonomy (Wagner et al.); however, examination of specimens show that P. A. Munz (1965) was correct in describing the pubescence of the inflorescence as non-glandular. (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. Stenosiphon | Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Gaura > subsect. Gaura |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Gaura linifolia, Stenosiphon linifolius | Gaura coloradensis, G. neomexicana subsp. coloradensis, G. neomexicana var. coloradensis |
Name authority | W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 212. (2007) | (Rydberg) W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 211. (2007) |
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