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

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

high-plains beeblossom, woolly beeblossom

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

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

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

Leaves

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.

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

slender.

Flowers

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.

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

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

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

Seeds

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

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

2n

= 14.

Oenothera pubescens

Oenothera cinerea

Phenology Flowering (Feb–)Apr–Sep(–Oct).
Habitat Open sites in mon­tane habitats.
Elevation (1300–)1500–2500(–3100) m. ((4300–)4900–8200(–10200) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico; West Indies; Central America (Guatemala); South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
sc United States
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

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. Nutantigemma 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. 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
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 Anogra amplexicaulis, O. amplexicaulis, O. laciniata subsp. pubescens, Var. o. var. o., O. nyctaginiifolia, O. stuebelii, Raimannia colimae, R. confusa Gaura cinerea
Name authority Willdenow ex Sprengel: Syst. Veg. 2: 229. (1825) (Wooton & Standley) W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 211. (2007)
Web links