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little evening-primrose, perennial evening-primrose, perennial sundrops, small sundrops

Habit Herbs perennial, sparsely to moderately strigillose, glandular puberulent distally; from fibrous roots.
Stems

usually erect to slightly decumbent, unbranched to few-branched distally, (3–)15–30(–75) cm.

Leaves

in a basal rosette and cauline, basal 2–4 × 0.2–1.2 cm, petiole (0.2–)0.5–1.2(–2.5) cm, blade oblanceolate to obovate;

cauline 3–7 × 0.2–1.2 cm, petiole 0.1–1 cm, blade oblanceolate to obovate, margins entire or weakly and remotely denticulate.

Inflorescences

nodding, flowers in axils of distalmost few nodes.

Flowers

opening near sunrise, nearly unscented;

buds with free tips to 1 mm, connivent;

floral tube 3–10 mm;

sepals 2–4 mm;

petals bright yellow, fading pale yellow, or orangish yellow to pale pink, 5–10 mm;

filaments 3–4 mm, anthers 1–2 mm, pollen 40–70% fertile;

style 3–4 mm, stigma surrounded by anthers at anthesis.

Capsules

clavate, 4-angled or narrowly 4-winged, 5–10 × 2–3 mm, stipe 1–2 mm;

sessile.

Seeds

0.7–0.8 × 0.2–0.3 mm.

2n

= 14.

Calylophus tubicula

Oenothera perennis

Phenology Flowering May–Jul(–Aug).
Habitat Fields, open woods, boggy areas.
Elevation (0–)150–900(–1400) m. ((0–)500–3000(–4600) 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; ME; MI; MN; MO; NC; NE; NH; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SPM
[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 perennis, a PTH species that forms a ring of 14 chromosomes in meiosis, is self-compatible and autogamous (G. B. Straley 1977). It is disjunct in Nebraska from the rest of its range in eastern North America, occurring in Garfield, Holt, and Rock counties (R. Kaul, pers. comm.). It is introduced in British Columbia.

Oenotherapumila Linnaeus is an illegitimate substitution based on O. perennis Linnaeus, while Kneiffia michauxii Spach is an illegitimate substitution based O. pumila, as is K. pumila Spach, and the three pertain 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. Calylophus > subsect. Salpingia Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Oenothera > sect. Kneiffia
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. 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. 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 Kneiffia chrysantha, K. depauperata, K. perennis, O. chrysantha, O. perennis var. rectipilis, O. pumila var. chrysantha, O. pumila var. minima, O. pumila var. pusilla, O. pumila var. rectipilis, O. pusilla
Name authority A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 3(5): 71. (1852) Linnaeus: Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 2: 998. (1759)
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