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

cut-leaf evening-primrose, southern evening primrose

Howard's evening-primrose

Habit Herbs annual, sparsely to moderately strigillose, sometimes also villous, sometimes also becoming glandular puberulent distally. Herbs acaulescent or sometimes caulescent, moderately to densely strigillose and glandular puberulent, sometimes also sparsely to moderately hirsute; from a taproot, sometimes lateral roots producing adventitious shoots.
Stems

erect to ascending, unbranched to much branched, 5–50 cm.

(when present) ascending, longer ones becoming decumbent, leafy, sometimes densely so, 0–10(–30) cm.

Leaves

in a basal rosette and cauline, basal 4–15 × 1–3 cm, cauline 2–10 × 0.5–3.5 cm;

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

bracts spreading, flat.

in a basal rosette, sometimes also cauline, (6–)8.5–17(–23) × (0.5–)1–2(–3) cm;

petiole 2–7.5 cm;

blade usually oblanceolate, elliptic to narrowly oblong, rarely lanceolate, margins often undulate, entire or remotely and irregularly pinnately lobed mostly in proximal 1/2, rarely more regularly pinnately lobed and lobing extending to distal 1/2, sinuses usually extending less than 1/2 to midrib, lobes triangular to oblong or linear, (1–)4–9(–13) mm, apex acute to obtuse.

Flowers

usually 1 opening per day near sunset;

buds erect, with free tips erect, 0.3–3 mm;

floral tube 12–35 mm;

sepals 5–15 mm;

petals yellow, fading orange or reddish tinged, broadly obovate or obcordate, 5–22 mm;

filaments 3–14 mm, anthers 4–5 mm, pollen ca. 50% fertile;

style 20–50 mm, stigma surrounded by anthers at anthesis.

usually 1 or 2, rarely more, opening per day near sunset, strongly and sweetly scented;

buds with unequal free tips 1–3(–4) mm;

floral tube (43–)60–110(–125) mm;

sepals (30–)35–60(–80) mm;

petals brilliant yellow, fading deep red, drying deep reddish purple to reddish brown, usually broadly obovate, rarely subrhombic, (30–)40–60(–73) mm, sometimes with a terminal tooth;

filaments (19–)25–38 mm, anthers 10–17 mm;

style(90–)110–145(–165) mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers at anthesis.

Capsules

cylindrical, sometimes slightly enlarged toward apex, 20–50 × 2–4 mm.

leathery, ovoid, narrowly ovoid, or narrowly lanceoloid to broadly ellipsoid, winged, wings (2–)4–7(–11) mm wide, body (20–)25–50(–80) × 4–6 mm, dehiscent 1/4–1/3 their length;

pedicel 2–6 mm.

Seeds

ellipsoid to subglobose, 0.9–1.8 × 0.4–0.9 mm.

numerous, usually in 1 row per locule, rarely in 2 rows toward base, obovoid to subcuboid, 3–8 × 2.5–3.5 mm.

2n

= 14.

= 28, 42, 56.

Oenothera laciniata

Oenothera howardii

Phenology Flowering (Feb–)Apr–Sep(–Oct). Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat introduced nearly worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas.. Open or rocky areas, in shale, fine-textured sandstones, clays, gypsum, or limestone from High Plains grasslands, open sites in pinyon-juniper woodlands, ponderosa pine-Douglas fir forests.
Elevation 0–1000(–1300) m. (0–3300(–4300) ft.) (1000–)1500–2300(–3000) m. ((3300–)4900–7500(–9800) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CA; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; ND; NE; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; WY [Introduced nearly worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO; KS; NV; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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

Oenothera laciniata is known in New Mexico from Doña Ana and Roosevelt counties from non-montane habitats and thus do not appear to represent O. pubescens; however, a few collections from Brewster and Jeff Davis counties, Texas, reported by W. Dietrich and W. L. Wagner (1988) as O. laciniata appear to represent collections of O. pubescens. Dietrich and Wagner found that O. laciniata hybridizes not only with O. grandis, but also with O. drummondii subsp. drummondii, O. humifusa, and O. mexicana. It is naturalized nearly worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas.

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

Oenotherahowardii is known from three disjunct areas: three collections on the High Plains (Baca and Otero counties, Colorado, and Hamilton County, Kansas); open yucca-juniper grassland, rocky slopes or disturbed areas on shale substrates along the Colorado counties of Boulder, Denver, Jefferson, and Larimer, and just over the state line in Wyoming; and, common to scattered, mostly on rocky slopes but also in shaded canyon sites on fine-textured red sandstones, clays, gypsum, chalky white degraded limestone or limestone in pinyon-juniper woodland to ponderosa pine-Douglas fir forest in southern Utah and eastern Nevada.

A. Nelson intended to publish Lavauxia howardii as a new combination and base it on Oenothera howardii M. E. Jones (1893), which was not validly published at the time, but inadvertently published L. howardii as a new species. Oenothera howardii (A. Nelson) W. L. Wagner is an isonym.

(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. Oenothera > subsect. Raimannia Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Megapterium
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. kunthiana, 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. 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. minima, O. repanda, O. sinuata, O. sinuata var. minima, Onagra sinuata, Raimannia laciniata Lavauxiahowardii a.
Name authority Hill: Veg. Syst. 12(app.): 64, plate 10. (1767) (A. Nelson) M. E. Jones ex Prain in B. D. Jackson et al.: Index Kew., suppl. 3: 121. (1908) — (as howardi)
Web links