Oenothera macrocarpa |
Oenothera lindheimeri |
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bigfruit evening primrose, Missouri evening primrose, Ozark sundrop |
Lindheimer's beeblossom |
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Habit | Herbs caulescent, strigillose or glabrous, sometimes glandular puberulent distally; from a stout taproot, sometimes lateral roots producing adventitious shoots. | Herbs clumped perennial, villous, usually more densely so proximally, hairs erect or ± appressed on leaf blades, also glandular puberulent distally, rarely glabrate; from taproot. | ||||||||||||||||
Stems | moderately leafy, (1–)4–40(–60) cm. |
many from base, ascending or erect, usually branched, 50–150 cm. |
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Leaves | 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). |
in a basal rosette and cauline, 0.5–9 × 0. |
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Flowers | usually 1 or 2, rarely more, opening per day near sunset, fading next morning, sometimes (subspp. |
4-merous, zygomorphic, opening at sunrise; floral tube 4–9 mm; sepals 9–17 mm; petals white, fading light or deep pink, rhombic-obovate to elliptic, 10–15 mm; filaments 7–12 mm, anthers 3.5–4.5 mm, pollen 90–100% fertile; style 16–27 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers at anthesis. |
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Capsules | 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. |
ellipsoid or ovoid, 4-angled, 6–9 × 2–3.5 mm; sessile. |
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Seeds | numerous, rarely as few as 8, in 1 row per locule, obovoid, (2–)3–5 × 1–2.3 mm. |
1–4, yellowish to light brown, 2–3 × 1–1.5 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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1 | –1.3 cm; blade narrowly elliptic to narrowly oblanceolate, margins coarsely and remotely serrate. |
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2n | = 14. |
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Oenothera macrocarpa |
Oenothera lindheimeri |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jul(–Oct). | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Black soil in coastal prairies. | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) | |||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
c United States; n Mexico; s United States
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LA; TX |
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Discussion | 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.) |
Oenothera lindheimeri has a fairly narrow distribution and occurs only in Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, St. Mary, Tangipahoa, and Vermillion parishes in Louisiana, and Brazoria, Brazos, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Harris, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Orange, Victoria, and Victoria counties in Texas. P. H. Raven and D. P. Gregory (1972[1973]) found Oenothera lindheimeri to be self-incompatible. It occasionally forms hybrids with O. filiformis. This species is widely cultivated and has many different cultivars. (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. Megapterium | Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Gaura > subsect. Gaura | ||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Megapterium macrocarpum, M. nuttallianum | Gaura lindheimeri, G. filiformis var. munzii | ||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Nuttall: Cat. Pl. Upper Louisiana, no. 56. (1813) | (Engelmann & A. Gray) W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 213. (2007) | ||||||||||||||||
Web links |