Oenothera sinuosa |
Oenothera acutissima |
|
---|---|---|
wavy-leaf gaura, wavyleaf beeblossom |
flaming Gorge evening primrose |
|
Habit | Herbs perennial, usually glabrous, sometimes strigillose and villous, hairs erect; from a woody taproot but spreading by rhizomes (forming extensive colonies). | Herbs perennial, subacaulescent or very short-caulescent, strigillose mostly along leaf margins and flower parts, also sparsely glandular puberulent, sometimes also sparsely hirsute distally; from a stout taproot, usually with several long, lateral roots often producing adventitious shoots. |
Stems | erect, branched below and just above ground, branched also proximal to inflorescences, 40–120(–250) cm. |
(when present) ascending, (1–)several–10, densely leafy, 1–2 cm. |
Leaves | in a basal rosette and cauline, (1–)3–11 × (0.1–)0.5–2 cm, blade linear to narrowly oblanceolate, margins usually sparsely sinuate-dentate, rarely subentire, often undulate. |
primarily in a basal rosette, 7–14(–18) × (0.3–)0.5–1(–1.5) cm, moderately thick and stiff; petiole (1.2–)3–5 cm; blade linear to very narrowly elliptic, margins irregularly and coarsely dentate or pinnately lobed, apex long-attenuate. |
Inflorescences | stout. |
|
Flowers | 4-merous, zygomorphic, opening near sunset; floral tube 2.5–5 mm; sepals 7–14 mm; petals white, fading pink to red, slightly unequal, elliptic, 7–15 mm; stamens presented in lower 1/2 of flower, filaments 5–11 mm, lanate at very base, anthers 3–5 mm, pollen 90–100% fertile; style 12–19 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers at anthesis. |
1–3 opening per day near sunset; buds with unequal free tips 1–3 mm; floral tube (53–)60–100 mm; sepals 26–50 mm; petals bright yellow, fading deep reddish orange, drying purplish brown, 28–50 mm; filaments 21–35 mm, anthers 9–11 mm; style 75–143 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers. |
Capsules | narrowly ovoid, narrowly 4-winged or 4-angled, 8–15 × 1.5–3.5 mm, abruptly constricted to a long, sterile stipe 2–8 mm. |
leathery in age, oblong-oblanceoloid, narrowly winged, wings oblong, 1–2(–4) mm wide, broadest near apex, 14–18(–22) × 7–8 mm (excluding wings), apex abruptly constricted, dehiscent 1/4–1/3 their length, valve surface with inconspicuous veins; sessile. |
Seeds | (1 or)2–4, light to reddish brown, 2–3 × 1–1.5 mm. |
asymmetrically cuneiform, 2–2.5 mm. |
2n | = 28. |
= 14. |
Oenothera sinuosa |
Oenothera acutissima |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Aug. | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Flats and washes in light sandy loam. | Restricted to sandy and gravelly, reddish, soil in seasonally wet sites, meadows, depressions, along arroyos, among rocks, in mixed conifer forests, sagebrush scrub. |
Elevation | 0–300(–1300) m. (0–1000(–4300) ft.) | 1800–2400(–2600) m. (5900–7900(–8500) ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; CA; FL; GA; MO; NY; OK; TX [Introduced in Europe (Italy), s Africa]
|
CO; UT |
Discussion | P. H. Raven and D. P. Gregory (1972[1973]) determined Oenothera sinuosa to be self-incompatible. Oenothera sinuosa is endemic to Oklahoma and Texas and is escaped or naturalized in Alabama, Arkansas, California (where found to 1300 m), Florida, Georgia, Missouri, and New York. Oenothera sinuosa is potentially a noxious weed due to the aggressive rhizomatous habit, but is somewhat limited by its self-incompatibility. Molecular data (G. D. Hoggard et al. 2004) are consistent with the hypothesis that the allotetraploid (2n = 28) O. sinuosa arose by interspecific hybridization of two species within subsect. Stipogaura as suggested by P. H. Raven and D. P. Gregory (1972[1973]). The molecular data indicate that the pistillate parent came from O. calcicola or a close relative, while the staminate parent originated from the lineage that gave rise to O. cinerea and O. filipes. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Oenothera acutissima is known only from the vicinity of Manila, eastern Uinta Mountains, Daggett and Duchesne counties, Utah, east to areas in and near the foothills of the Douglas and Blue mountains, in Uinta County, Utah, and Moffat County, Colorado. (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. Gaura > subsect. Stipogaura | Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Lavauxia > subsect. Lavauxia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Gaura sinuata | O. flava var. acutissima |
Name authority | W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 214. (2007) | W. L. Wagner: Syst. Bot. 6: 153, fig. 1. (1981) |
Web links |