Oenothera glaucifolia |
Oenothera macrocarpa |
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false gaura |
bigfruit evening primrose, Missouri evening primrose, Ozark sundrop |
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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 caulescent, strigillose or glabrous, sometimes glandular puberulent distally; from a stout taproot, sometimes lateral roots producing adventitious shoots. | ||||||||||||||||
Stems | erect, branched or unbranched, 30–300 cm. |
moderately leafy, (1–)4–40(–60) cm. |
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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. |
cauline, (2.8–)3.7–12.5(–17) × (0.1–)0.4–3(–4.5) cm; petiole (0.4–)1–4(–6) cm; blade linear, lanceolate-elliptic, elliptic to oblanceolate or suborbiculate, margins entire or conspicuously or inconspicuously denticulate or serrulate, sometimes undulate, apex usually acute, sometimes obtuse or retuse (subsp. incana). |
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Inflorescences | long, wandlike, unbranched or branched. |
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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. |
usually 1 or 2, rarely more, opening per day near sunset, fading next morning, sometimes (subspp. |
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Capsules | ovoid, 4-angled, somewhat flattened, 3–4 × 1.5–2.3 mm, valves with raised midrib and conspicuous lateral veins; sessile. |
papery in age, narrowly ellipsoid to lanceoloid, sometimes twisted (subsp. fremontii), winged, wings (2–)10–28(–34) mm wide, body (13–)25–70(–115) × 2–9 mm, dehiscent 1/4–1/3 their length; pedicel 1–12(–25) mm. |
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Seeds | 1, pale yellow, oblanceoloid, 2.4–2.6 × 1–1.5 mm. |
numerous, rarely as few as 8, in 1 row per locule, obovoid, (2–)3–5 × 1–2.3 mm. |
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Macrocarpa | and oklahomensis) lasting for 2 days, weakly scented; buds with unequal free tips 1–11(–15) mm; floral tube (21–)35–140(–160) mm; sepals (20–)25–65(–75) mm; petals bright yellow, fading orange, reddish orange or mostly unchanged, obovate to very broadly obovate, (17–)25–65(–68) mm, usually with terminal notch and/or tooth, margin sometimes erose; filaments 13–40(–44) mm, anthers 10–24(–25) mm; style (45–)55–192 mm, stigma usually exserted beyond anthers at anthesis. |
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2n | = 14. |
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Oenothera glaucifolia |
Oenothera macrocarpa |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Oct(–Nov). | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Rocky prairie slopes and outcrops or bluffs, along streams, roadsides, usuallyon limestone. | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) | |||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AR; CO; KS; MO; NE; NM; OK; TX; WY
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c United States; n Mexico; s United States
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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.) |
Subspecies 5 (4 in the flora). Oenotheramacrocarpa is variable and has differentiated extensively in the Great Plains region. Each of the five distinctive subspecies occupies a different geographical and ecological situation. Only subsp. mexicana W. L. Wagner from Coahuila, Mexico, occurs outside of the flora area. In general, the subspecies are sharply distinct and each is characterized by a number of features, including pubescence, leaf features, flower and floral tube size, and size and morphology of the capsules and seeds. The five entities are treated as subspecies primarily because of their complete interfertility and extensive intergradation in any area of marginal contact. Intermediates are known between subsp. macrocarpa and subspp. fremontii and oklahomensis and between subspp. incana and oklahomensis. There is also some evidence that suggests past hybridization between subspp. fremontii and incana although there is no present contact between them. All subspecies are self-incompatible. Oenothera alata Nuttall (1818) is an illegitimate name based on O. macrocarpa and pertains here. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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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. Megapterium | ||||||||||||||||
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Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Gaura linifolia, Stenosiphon linifolius | Megapterium macrocarpum, M. nuttallianum | ||||||||||||||||
Name authority | W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 212. (2007) | Nuttall: Cat. Pl. Upper Louisiana, no. 56. (1813) | ||||||||||||||||
Web links |