Oenothera rosea |
Oenothera primiveris |
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pink evening primrose, rose evening-primrose |
desert evening primrose, yellow desert evening primrose |
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Habit | Herbs perennial, caulescent, strigillose and often also sparsely hirsute; from slender taproot. | Herbs winter-annual, caulescent to short-caulescent, long-hirsute, hairs often with reddish purple pustulate bases, especially proximally, also moderately strigillose, and glandular puberulent distally, often on leaves; from a weakly fleshy taproot. |
Stems | 1–several, ascending to decumbent, 7–65 cm. |
(when present) unbranched and erect or, sometimes, few branches from near base, in robust plants stems and caudex hollow and greatly enlarged, especially toward base, densely leafy, 5–35 cm. |
Leaves | in a basal rosette and cauline, basal 1–6 × 0.3–2 cm, blade narrowly elliptic to elliptic or ovate, margins subentire, weakly serrulate, or sinuate-pinnatifid; cauline 1–6 × 0.3–2 cm, blade narrowly elliptic to narrowly ovate, margins subentire or weakly serrulate, proximal ones sinuate-pinnatifid. |
in a basal rosette, sometimes also cauline, (1.4–)6–15(–28) × (0.2–)1–3.5(–5.6) cm; petiole (0.9–)3.5–8(–14) cm; blade oblanceolate to linear-oblanceolate, pinnatifid or 2-pinnatifid to shallowly pinnately lobed, margins sinuate-dentate or subentire, apex obtuse. |
Inflorescences | erect. |
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Flowers | 1–3 opening per day near sunrise; buds with free tips 0.1–1 mm; floral tube 4–8 mm; sepals 6–12 mm; petals rose purple, fading darker, 4–12 mm; filaments 4–6 mm, anthers 2–3.5 mm, pollen 35–65% fertile; style 7–13.5 mm, stigma surrounded by anthers at anthesis. |
usually 1–4, rarely more, opening per day, 1–2 hours before sunset; sepals (7–)12–25(–30) mm; petals yellow, fading reddish orange to purple, obcordate to obovate, (6–)13–35(–40) mm; filaments 6–16 mm, anthers 3–10 mm; style (32–)40–90(–100) mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers or surrounded by them. |
Capsules | narrowly obovoid, 4–12 × 2–4 mm, apex attenuate to a sterile beak, proximal stipe 5–20 mm, gradually tapering to base, valve midrib prominent in distal part; sessile. |
woody in age, sigmoid or curved to nearly straight, lanceoloid to ovoid, 4-angled, 10–45(–60) × 4–8 mm, beak 4–15 mm, dehiscent 1/4–2/3 their length; sessile. |
Seeds | narrowly obovoid, 0.5–0.9 × 0.3–0.5 mm. |
usually numerous, in 2 rows per locule, obovoid to oblanceoloid, 3–3.5 × 1–1.4 mm, surface thickened above raphe and at distal end into U-shaped structure. |
2n | = 14. |
= 14. |
Oenothera rosea |
Oenothera primiveris |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Sep. | Flowering Feb–May(–Jun). |
Habitat | tropical areas.. | Sandy soil on flats, low hills and margins of sand dunes, along arroyos, roadsides, in desert scrub, grasslands and oak-grasslands. |
Elevation | 10–600 m. (0–2000 ft.) | 30–1600 m. (100–5200 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; TX; Mexico; Central America; West Indies; tropical areas [Introduced in South America (Argentina), Europe, Asia, s Africa, Atlantic Islands (Azores, Canary Islands)]
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AZ; CA; NM; NV; TX; UT; Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Sonora)
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Discussion | Oenothera rosea is a PTH species, forming a ring of 14 chromosomes in meiosis, and is self-compatible and autogamous. In the flora area, it is known from Cochise, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties in Arizona, Alameda, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, and Santa Barbara counties in California (primarily in urban areas), and from southern Texas. It is clearly of North American origin, since all of its close relatives are confined to North America, and has spread south along the Andes. It occurs at 500–3700 m in South America but generally at lower elevations in most areas. The name Hartmannia affinis Spach is illegitimate, being based on Oenothera virgata; H. gauroides Spach is also illegitimate, being based on O. rosea; O. purpurea Lamarck is a later homonym; these three names pertain here. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Oenothera primiveris has a complex variation pattern (W. L. Wagner 2005). In the western part of the range from southeastern California across southern Nevada to southern Utah counties of Emery, Kane, and Washington, and northwestern Mohave County, Arizona, plants generally have a gray appearance, with dense pubescence and larger flowers with widespread self-compatibility, but with scattered populations retaining self-incompatibility. Populations from southof the Mogollon Plateau to southern New Mexico, western Texas, Chihuahua, Sonora, and Baja California, Mexico, are greener in appearance with smaller to much smaller flowers, and are all self-compatible with occasional outcrossing or complete autogamy. The transitions between these two extremes are so extensive and more or less gradual that it is not possible to subdivide into two subspecies as has been done previously (Wagner). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 10. | FNA vol. 10. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Gaura epilobia, Godetia heuckii, Hartmannia rosea, H. rosea var. parvifolia, H. virgata, O. psycrophila, O. rosea var. parvifolia, O. rubra, O. virgata, Xylopleurum roseum | Lavauxia lobata, L. primiveris, O. bufonis, O. cespitosa var. primiveris, O. johnsonii, O. primiveris subsp. bufonis, O. primiveris var. bufonis, O. primiveris subsp. caulescens, O. primiveris var. caulescens, Pachylophus johnsonii |
Name authority | L’Héritier ex Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 3. (1789) | A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 5(6): 58. (1853) |
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