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biennial bee-blossom

Habit Herbs usually robust winter-annual, sometimes biennial, usually moderately to densely villous, rarely short-hirtellous, also glandular puberulent; from fleshy taproot.
Stems

usually well-branched distal to base, 50–180 cm.

Leaves

in a basal rosette and cauline, basal 8–20 × 1.5–3 cm, blade oblanceolate, margins irregularly toothed to lobed;

cauline 1.5–12 × 0.5–3 cm, blade narrowly elliptic to elliptic or lanceolate, margins subentire or undulate-denticulate.

Flowers

4-merous, zygomorphic, opening at sunset;

floral tube 6–13 mm;

sepals 5–13 mm;

petals white, fading pink to red, narrowly elliptic-obovate, 6–12 mm;

filaments 5–10 mm, anthers 2–4 mm, pollen 35–65% fertile;

style 12–15 mm, stigma surrounded by anthers.

Capsules

ellipsoid, 4-angled, 5–9 × 2–3 mm;

sessile.

Seeds

3–6, light to reddish brown, 2–2.5 × 1–1.3 mm.

2n

= 14.

Calylophus tubicula

Oenothera gaura

Phenology Flowering Jun–Oct.
Habitat Open woods, fields, along streams, disturbed sites, ditch banks, roadsides, railway embankments.
Elevation 100–600 m. (300–2000 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
sw United States; sc United States; n Mexico
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CT; DC; DE; IA; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; MI; MN; NC; NJ; NY; OH; PA; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (1 in the flora).

H. F. Towner (1977) found that Oenothera tubicula is self-incompatible and diurnal with opening times just prior to sunrise. It occurs primarily on limestone soil in arid lowlands, but occasionally in montane areas, from Guadalupe County, New Mexico, south to western Texas, northeast to Howard County, Texas, and south to northern Zacatecas, south-central Nuevo León, and southwestern Tamaulipas, 600–1800 m. Subspecies strigulosa (Towner) W. L. Wagner & Hoch is known only from rocky, open sites and canyons in relatively montane areas, sometimes in pine forests in southernmost Coahuila, south-central Nuevo León, and southeastern Tamaulipas, from 1500 to 2300 m. It differs in being strigillose on the ovary and distally on stems, leaves linear to narrowly lanceolate, and the petals fading red or purple.

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

Oenothera gaura is a PTH species and forms a ring of 14 chromosomes in meiosis. It is self-compatible and autogamous (P. H. Raven and D. P. Gregory 1972[1973]), and may have been derived from O. filiformis.

(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. Calylophus > subsect. Salpingia Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Gaura > subsect. Gaura
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. tubicula subsp. tubicula
Synonyms Calylophus tubiculus, Galpinsia tubicula, O. hartwegii var. tubicula Gaura biennis
Name authority A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 3(5): 71. (1852) W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 212. (2007)
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