The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Fendler evening primrose, Hartweg's sundrops

bee-blossom, kisses, roadside gaura, wild honey-suckle

Habit Herbs perennial, sometimes suffrutescent, strigillose, glandular puberulent, glabrous, hirtellous, or short-pilose; from a stout taproot. Herbs annual, sparsely villous proximally, leaves glabrate to sparsely villous along veins and on margins, usually glabrous distally, except sometimes proximal part of inflorescence, especially bracts, sparsely villous; from stout taproot.
Stems

1–many, erect to ascending, unbranched to densely branched, 4–60 cm.

usually well-branched, 25–120 cm.

Leaves

0.3–6.5 × 0.04–1.2 cm, sometimes fascicles of small leaves 0.1–1.5 cm present in non-flowering axils;

petiole 0–0.2 cm;

blade elliptic, lanceolate, linear, or filiform to ovate or oblanceolate, usually not much reduced distally, proximalmost leaves sometimes obovate to spatulate, base attenuate to obtuse, truncate, or subcordate, sometimes clasping, margins entire or serrate, often undulate, apex acute.

in a basal rosette and cauline, basal 7–11 × 0.1–2.3 cm, blade lyrate;

cauline 1–9.5 × 0.1–2.3 cm, blade narrowly lanceolate to linear, margins sinuate-dentate, undulate.

Flowers

usually 1 per stem opening per day in afternoon or near sunset;

buds with free tips 0.5–6 mm;

floral tube 16–50(–60) mm, funnelform in distal 1/2 or less;

sepals 7–28 mm;

petals yellow, fading pale pinkish or pale purple, 10–35 mm;

filaments 4–13 mm, anthers 5–13 mm, pollen 85–100% fertile;

style 25–65(–75) mm, stigma yellow, quadrangular, usually exserted beyond anthers.

4-merous, zygomorphic, opening at sunset;

floral tube 6.5–14 mm;

sepals 11–21 mm;

petals white, fading pink to red or sometimes purple, elliptic-obovate, 10–15 mm;

filaments 6–9 mm, anthers 2–6 mm, pollen 90–100% fertile;

style 16–32 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers at anthesis.

Capsules

6–40 × 2–4 mm, hard, promptly dehiscent throughout their length.

ovoid, narrowly 4-winged, furrowed between angles, 4.5–8 × 2–5 mm, abruptly tapering to stipe 0–1 mm;

sessile.

Seeds

obovoid, 1–2.5 mm.

(1 or)2–4(or 5), yellowish to light brown, 2–3 × 1 mm.

2n

= 14, 28.

= 14.

Oenothera hartwegii

Oenothera suffulta

Phenology Flowering Apr–Aug.
Habitat In open, sandy places.
Elevation 10–1100 m. (0–3600 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
c United States; sw United States; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 5 (5 in the flora).

Oenothera hartwegii consists of five intergrading subspecies, which are generally locally common on rocky, sandy, gypsum, or limestone soil in arid to relatively mesic open areas, in southeastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, western Oklahoma, Texas (except eastern part), New Mexico, southeastern and east-central Arizona, and in Mexico from Chihuahua, northern Coahuila, and northwestern Tamaulipas south to Aguascalientes. H. F. Towner (1977) found that O. hartwegii is self-incompatible and usually vespertine; two of the subspecies (filifolia and maccartii) open early in the afternoon and are pollinated both day and evening.

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

Oenothera suffulta is more common in western Texas while uncommon elsewhere throughout Texas, and absent in the Trans-Pecos region. P. H. Raven and D. P. Gregory (1972[1973]) determined O. suffulta to be self-incompatible.

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

Key
1. Leaves (except proximalmost): blade base truncate or subcordate and clasping; plants densely pubescent with mixture of hair types, but always short-pilose and usually also hirtellous, sometimes also strigillose, especially on leaves, or glandular puberulent distally.
subsp. pubescens
1. Leaves: blade base attenuate or obtuse; plants glabrous, sparsely strigillose, or glandular puberulent.
→ 2
2. Plants usually glabrous throughout, sometimes glandular puberulent on distal parts, especially on ovary.
subsp. fendleri
2. Plants strigillose and/or glandular puberulent, especially on distal parts.
→ 3
3. Plants glandular puberulent throughout, more densely so on distal parts, sometimes also sparsely strigillose on ovary and leaves; leaf blades filiform to narrowly lanceolate.
subsp. filifolia
3. Plants usually strigillose, rarely glandular puberulent; leaf blade narrowly lanceolate to oblanceolate, sometimes linear.
→ 4
4. Leaf blades narrowly lanceolate, sometimes linear, margins entire or shallowly and sparsely serrulate, sometimes undulate; plants sparsely to densely strigillose throughout.
subsp. hartwegii
4. Leaf blades usually narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate or oblanceolate, rarely linear, margins subentire or serrulate, usually crinkled-undulate; plants usually sparsely strigillose, sometimes glandular puberulent.
subsp. maccartii
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Calylophus > subsect. Salpingia Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Gaura > subsect. Gaura
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. gayleana, O. glaucifolia, O. glazioviana, O. grandiflora, O. grandis, O. harringtonii, 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. 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. tetraptera, O. texensis, O. toumeyi, O. triangulata, O. triloba, O. tubicula, O. villosa, O. wolfii, O. xylocarpa
Subordinate taxa
O. hartwegii subsp. fendleri, O. hartwegii subsp. filifolia, O. hartwegii subsp. hartwegii, O. hartwegii subsp. maccartii, O. hartwegii subsp. pubescens
Synonyms Calylophus hartwegii, Galpinsia hartwegii, Salpingia hartwegii Gaura suffulta
Name authority Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 5. (1839) — (as hartwegi) (Engelmann ex A. Gray) W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 214. (2007)
Web links