Oenothera sinuosa |
Oenothera tetraptera |
|
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wavy-leaf gaura, wavyleaf beeblossom |
fourwing 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 annual or perennial, strigillose and also hirsute; from a slender taproot. |
Stems | erect, branched below and just above ground, branched also proximal to inflorescences, 40–120(–250) cm. |
15–50 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. |
2.5–10 × 0.6–2.5 cm; petiole 0.2–2.2 cm; blade usually lanceolate to oblanceolate, sometimes elliptic, margins weakly serrate to sinuate-pinnatifid. |
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 free tips 0.5–3 mm; floral tube 10–30 mm; sepals 20–40 mm; petals white, fading pink, 20–43 mm; filaments 12–18 mm, anthers 5–10 mm, pollen 85–100% fertile; style 19–67 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers at anthesis. |
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. |
broadly clavate or obovoid, 20–51 × 5–7 mm, winged, wings 2–4 mm, valve surface with prominent midrib, proximal stipe 8–45 mm; sessile. |
Seeds | (1 or)2–4, light to reddish brown, 2–3 × 1–1.5 mm. |
narrowly obovoid, 1–1.5 × 0.5–0.7 mm. |
2n | = 28. |
= 14. |
Oenothera sinuosa |
Oenothera tetraptera |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Aug. | Flowering Feb–May. |
Habitat | Flats and washes in light sandy loam. | Alluvial flats, open areas, sandy soil, weedy sites. |
Elevation | 0–300(–1300) m. (0–1000(–4300) ft.) | 10–300[–2000] m. (0–1000[–6600] ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; CA; FL; GA; MO; NY; OK; TX [Introduced in Europe (Italy), s Africa]
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TX; Mexico; Central America; West Indies (Jamaica); n South America [Introduced widely in temperate Europe, Asia, s Africa, Australia]
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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.) |
In the flora area, Oenothera tetraptera is known only from southern Texas. Oenothera tetraptera presumably has become naturalized in South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela), West Indies (Jamaica), Europe, Asia, South Africa, and Australia. Oenothera candida Dumont Courset is a superfluous name, as is O. candida Bellardi ex Colla, and they both pertain here. The name Hartmannia macrantha Spach is illegitimate and pertains here. (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. Leucocoryne |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Gaura sinuata | Hartmannia latiflora, H. tetraptera, O. latiflora, O. tetraptera var. immutabilis, Xylopleurum tetrapterum |
Name authority | W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 214. (2007) | Cavanilles: Icon. 3: 40, plate 279. (1796) |
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