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Kunth's evening-primrose

pubescent evening primrose, silky evening primrose, South American evening-primrose

Habit Herbs annual, strigillose and also hirsute; from a slender taproot. Herbs annual or biennial, densely to sparsely strigillose, sometimes also villous and glandular puberulent distally; from a taproot.
Stems

5–40 cm.

unbranched or with branched central stem and ascending to decumbent lateral branches arising from rosette, 5–50(–80) cm.

Leaves

1–6 × 0.3–3 cm;

petiole 0.1–1.1 cm;

blade usually lanceolate to oblanceolate, sometimes elliptic, margins weakly serrate to sinuate-pinnatifid.

in a basal rosette and cauline, basal 5–14 × 0.5–2.5 cm, cauline 2–8 × 0.5–2.5 cm;

blade narrowly oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic or narrowly oblong, margins usually dentate to deeply lobed;

bracts spreading, flat.

Flowers

1–3 opening per day near sunset;

buds with free tips 0–0.5 mm;

floral tube 5–31 mm;

sepals 10–27 mm;

petals white, fading pink, 8–25 mm;

filaments 6–12 mm, anthers 3–5 mm, pollen 35–65% fertile;

style 12–30 mm, stigma surrounded by anthers at anthesis.

usually 1 opening per day near sunset;

buds with free tips erect, 0.1–1 mm;

floral tube erect, becoming recurved and nodding, then erect again just before anthesis, 15–50 mm;

sepals 5–25 mm;

petals yellow, fading reddish orange, broadly obovate to obcordate, 5–25(–35) mm;

filaments 6–18 mm, anthers (2–)3–9 mm, pollen ca. 50% fertile;

style 20–60 mm, stigma surrounded by or slightly exserted beyond anthers at anthesis.

Capsules

broadly clavate or obovoid, 7–31 ×3–5 mm, winged, wings 0.5–1.5 mm, valve surface with prominent midrib, proximal stipe 3–17 mm;

sessile.

cylindrical, sometimes slightly enlarged distally, 20–45 ×2–4 mm.

Seeds

narrowly obovoid, 0.9–1.2 × 0.4–0.5 mm.

brown, sometimes dark-flecked, 0.9–1.5 × 0.6–1 mm.

2n

= 14.

= 14.

Oenothera kunthiana

Oenothera pubescens

Phenology Flowering Feb–May. Flowering (Feb–)Apr–Sep(–Oct).
Habitat Alluvial flats, open areas, sandy soil, weedy sites. Open sites in mon­tane habitats.
Elevation 10–1300[–2000] m. (0–4300[–6600] ft.) (1300–)1500–2500(–3100) m. ((4300–)4900–8200(–10200) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; Mexico; Central America; n South America [Introduced widely in temperate Europe, Asia, Pacific Islands (Hawaii), Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico; West Indies; Central America (Guatemala); South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Oenothera kunthiana is a PTH species and forms a ring of 14 chromosomes in meiosis, and is self-compatible and autogamous, common and widespread from sea level to middle elevations in the mountains from southern Texas south throughout Mexico except for Baja California and the tropical lowlands southward to Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica; it was once collected in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Oenothera kunthiana was recently found to be naturalized in the Hawaiian Islands.

Oenothera pinnatifida Kunth is a later homonym of O. pinnatifida Nuttall and another later homonym is O. micrantha Walpers, not Hornemann ex Sprengel (1825); they both pertain here.

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

Oenothera pubescens is a PTH species and forms a ring of 14 chromosomes in meiosis, and is self-compatible and autogamous (W. Dietrich and W. L. Wagner 1988).

Oenothera pubescens has been collected once in California in 1884 (Newberry Springs, San Bernardino County), where it was temporarily introduced or a natural occurrence that was extirpated. Collections from west Texas (Brewster, Jeff Davis, and Presidio counties) have been made since 1990 and a few others collected earlier were misidentified as O. laciniata.

(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. Leucocoryne Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Oenothera > subsect. Nutantigemma
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. hartwegii, O. havardii, O. heterophylla, O. hispida, O. howardii, O. humifusa, O. jamesii, 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. 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 Hartmannia kunthiana, H. domingensis, H. parviflora, O. domingensis, O. fissifolia, O. walpersii Anogra amplexicaulis, O. amplexicaulis, O. laciniata subsp. pubescens, Var. o. var. o., O. nyctaginiifolia, O. stuebelii, Raimannia colimae, R. confusa
Name authority (Spach) Munz: Amer. J. Bot. 19: 759. (1932) Willdenow ex Sprengel: Syst. Veg. 2: 229. (1825)
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