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

Oakes' evening-primrose

high-plains beeblossom, woolly beeblossom

Habit Herbs biennial, densely silky-strigillose, at least proximally, also sparsely villous with long, appressed hairs, sometimes also villous with spreading, pustulate hairs and/or glandular puberulent distally. Herbs suffrutescent, densely soft-villous, hairs mostly appressed, 2–3 mm, becoming less villous distally, also strigillose, rarely glandular puberulent or hispidulous, plant parts grayish green; from deep, twisted, woody rootstock.
Stems

erect to decumbent, green or flushed with red on proximal parts or throughout, unbranched or bushy and branched from base, with side branches arising obliquely or arcuately from rosette, 10–60 cm.

erect, several-branched near ground, also branched proximal to inflorescences, 60–280 cm.

Leaves

in a basal rosette and cauline, basal 8–30 × 0.5–3 cm, cauline 3.5–20 ×0.5–2.7 cm;

blade grayish green to dull green, very narrowly oblanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, margins flat, subentire or remotely dentate, teeth sometimes blunt, sometimes sinuate-dentate proximally;

bracts persistent.

in a basal rosette and cauline, 0.5–8 × 0.15–2 cm, sessile, blade narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate to very narrowly elliptic or linear, margins usually subentire or shallowly sinuate-dentate, sometimes deeply sinuate-dentate, often undulate.

Inflorescences

usually recurved with ascending tip distally, rarely suberect, unbranched.

slender.

Flowers

opening near sunset;

buds erect, 3–5 mm diam., with free tips subterminal, spreading to erect, 2.5–4 mm;

floral tube 15–40 mm;

sepals green to yellow, flushed with red and dark red flecked or red-striped, 9–17 mm;

petals yellow to pale yellow, fading yellowish white to pale yellowish orange, very broadly obcordate, 7–20 mm;

filaments 6–15 mm, anthers 3–7 mm, pollen ca. 50% fertile;

style 20–45 mm, stigma surrounded by anthers at anthesis.

4-merous, zygomorphic, opening near sunset;

floral tube 1.5–5 mm;

sepals 6–14 mm;

petals white, fading pink to red, slightly unequal, elliptic, 7–13 mm, clawed;

stamens presented in lower 1/2 of flower, filaments 4.5–11 mm, anthers 2–4.5 mm, pollen 90–100% fertile;

style 9–19 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers at anthesis.

Capsules

erect or slightly spreading, usually rusty brown when dry, narrowly lanceoloid to lanceoloid, 15–40 × 4–8 mm, free tips of valves 0.5 mm.

lanceoloid to narrowly ovoid, 4-winged, 9–19 × 1–3.5 mm, abruptly constricted to a long, sterile stipe 2–10 mm.

Seeds

1.1–1.2 ×0.8–1 mm.

(1 or)2–4, 2–3(–4) × 0.8–1.3 mm, yellowish to light brown or rarely reddish brown.

2n

= 14.

Oenothera oakesiana

Oenothera cinerea

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Sandy coastal meadows and dunes, gravelly or rocky sites along rivers, disturbed sites, roadsides.
Elevation 0–50(–500) m. (0–200(–1600) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CT; DC; DE; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; VA; VT; WI; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC [Introduced in Europe, Asia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
sc United States
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Oenothera oakesiana is a PTH species and forms a ring of 14 chromosomes or a ring of 12 and 1 bivalent in meiosis, and is self-compatible and autogamous (W. Dietrich et al. 1997). It has plastome IV and a AC genome composition.

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

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

P. H. Raven and D. P. Gregory (1972[1973]) determined Oenothera cinerea to be self-incompatible. The two subspecies recognized here have disjunct distributions but are very similar morphologically.

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

Key
1. Herbs soft-villous, also strigillose or glandular puberulent.
subsp. cinerea
1. Herbs soft-villous, also hispidulous.
subsp. parksii
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Oenothera > subsect. Oenothera Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Gaura > subsect. Stipogaura
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. laciniata, O. lavandulifolia, O. lindheimeri, O. linifolia, O. longissima, O. macrocarpa, O. mckelveyae, O. mexicana, O. nealleyi, O. neomexicana, O. nutans, O. nuttallii, 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. 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. suffulta, O. tetraptera, O. texensis, O. toumeyi, O. triangulata, O. triloba, O. tubicula, O. villosa, O. wolfii, O. xylocarpa
Subordinate taxa
O. cinerea subsp. cinerea, O. cinerea subsp. parksii
Synonyms O. biennis var. oakesiana, O. ammophila, O. ammophiloides, O. ammophiloides var. angustifolia, O. ammophiloides var. laurensis, O. atrovirens var. ostreae, O. canovirens var. cymatilis, O. cruciata var. stenopetala, O. cymatilis, O. deflexa var. bracteata, O. disjuncta, O. eriensis, O. eriensis var. niagarensis, O. eriensis var. repandodentata, O. germanica, O. insignis, O. laevigata var. rubripunctata, O. leucophylla, O. litorea, O. magdalena, O. millersii, O. muricata var. parviflora, O. niagarensis, O. nobska, O. oakesiana var. nobska, O. oakesiana var. tidestromii, O. ostreae, O. parviflora var. oakesiana, O. perangusta, O. perangusta var. rubricalyx, O. repandodentata, O. rubescens, O. stenopetala, O. tidestromii, Onagra oakesiana Gaura cinerea
Name authority (A. Gray) J. W. Robbins ex S. Watson & J. M. Coulter in A. Gray et al.: Manual ed. 6, 190. (1890) (Wooton & Standley) W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 211. (2007)
Web links