Flora of North America species comparison

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Oenothera pallida subsp. runcinata

Oenothera pallida subsp. trichocalyx
Photo is of parent taxon
Photo is of parent taxon
Habit Herbs perennial, strigillose, sometimes also sparsely villous, or glabrous; from a taproot, lateral roots producing adventitious shoots. Herbs usually annual, sometimes perennial, strigillose throughout and villous distally, especially on flower parts; from a taproot, when perennial sometimes lateral roots producing adventitious shoots.
Stems

usually branched throughout.

single to several from base, usually unbranched.
Leaves

rosette not present at anthesis, 2–3.5(–5) × 0.4–1(–1.5) cm;

blade oblong to narrowly lanceolate, margins usually deeply sinuate-dentate to pinnatifid, rarely dentate only.

basal rosette usually present at anthesis, 3–5(–7.8) × 0.4–0.8(–1.2) cm;

blade narrowly lanceolate to oblong, margins pinnatifid or dentate.
Flowers

buds with free tips 0–0.2 mm;

floral tube 15–30 mm;

sepals 10–25 mm;

petals 10–30 mm.

buds with free tips 0–0.2 mm;

floral tube 20–30 mm;

sepals 10–18 mm;

petals 10–20 mm.
Capsules

spreading to reflexed, straight or curved, sometimes contorted.

spreading to reflexed, straight or contorted.
2n

= 14.

= 14.

Oenothera pallida subsp. runcinata

Oenothera pallida subsp. trichocalyx
Phenology Flowering (Apr–)May–Sep. Flowering (Apr–)May–Jun.
Habitat Sandy soil, dunes, disturbed areas, alkaline soil, pinyon-juniper woodlands, shrublands with Artemisia, Ericameria, or Prosopis, open ponderosa pine woodlands. Sandy, silty, or rocky soil in pinyon-juniper woodlands or shrublands, with Artemisia and Ericameria.
Elevation 1100–2400 m. (3600–7900 ft.) 1100–2500 m. (3600–8200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua)
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; UT; WY
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies runcinata replaces subsp. pallida in the southern part of the species range. In New Mexico, it is most morphologically diverse, with plants with subentire leaves densely strigillose recognized in the past as subsp. gypsophila. The distribution and characteristics of these plants should be studied more in relation to other types of populations included in subsp. runcinata. Glabrous plants in the southern portion of the range of subsp. runcinata, especially in New Mexico, adjacent Texas, and Chihuahua, Mexico, have been recognized as var. brevifolia.

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

Subspecies trichocalyx occurs across central to southern Wyoming, eastern Utah, western Colorado, northeastern Arizona, and northwestern New Mexico. Within its range it has slight overlap with subspp. pallida and runcinata. In its purest form, subsp. trichocalyx is the most distinctive phase of Oenothera pallida, but many of the populations have characteristics that approach other subspecies with perennial habit (versus annual) appearing occasionally. Plants that are glabrous, or nearly so, like subsp. pallida, but with apparent short-duration habit and divided leaves like subsp. trichocalyx, occur in southern Wyoming and in the Uinta Basin region of Utah; only more typical plants of subsp. trichocalyx otherwise occur in the region without any current evidence of the presence of subsp. pallida.

(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. Anogra > Oenothera pallida Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Anogra > Oenothera pallida
Sibling taxa
O. pallida subsp. latifolia, O. pallida subsp. pallida, O. pallida subsp. trichocalyx
O. pallida subsp. latifolia, O. pallida subsp. pallida, O. pallida subsp. runcinata
Synonyms O. albicaulis var. runcinata, Anogra gypsophila, A. leucotricha, A. pallida var. runcinata, A. runcinata, O. albicaulis var. brevifolia, O. albicaulis var. gypsophila, O. pallida subsp. gypsophila, O. pallida var. runcinata, O. runcinata, O. runcinata var. brevifolia, O. runcinata var. gypsophila, O. runcinata var. leucotricha, O. wislizeni O. trichocalyx, Anogra rhizomata, A. trichocalyx, A. violacea, A. vreelandii, O. albicaulis var. trichocalyx, O. pallida var. trichocalyx
Name authority (Engelmann) Munz & W. M. Klein in N. L. Britton et al.: N. Amer. Fl., ser. 2, 5: 119. (1965) (Nuttall) Munz & W. M. Klein in N. L. Britton et al.: N. Amer. Fl., ser. 2, 5: 119. (1965)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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