Biorepository Data Portal

Martin and Hutchins 1980, Kearney and Peebles 1969

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Perennial, acaulescent or nearly so with canescent herbage. Leaves: Lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate blades, 4-15 cm long, 10-20 mm wide, entire to sinuate-pinnatifid, petioled. Flowers: In the axils of the uppermost leaves, hypanthium 5-15 cm long, sepals 30-50 mm long; petals yellow, 30-60 mm long, becoming orange-red in age. Fruits: Capsule 25-30 mm long, ovoid to ellipsoid, sometimes attenuate to the apex, winged for the entire length. Ecology: Found on dry rocky slopes; 4,000-7,000 ft (1219-2134 m); flowers May-July. Distribution: s NV, AZ, NM, s TX, KS; south to c MEX. Notes: Distinguished from the vegetatively similar O. caespitosa by the shorter stem, such that the plant is more of a distinct basal rosette in O. brachycarpa, while in the former it elongates and forms a much larger rosette. But when in flower the yellow flowers of O. brachycarpa distinguish it clearly from the white petals of the former and the hypanthium of 5-15 mm distinguishes it from other yellow-flowered species. The fact that it is a perennial, pubescent all over and the fruit is ovoid. prismatic and broadly-4-winged throughout its length combined with these other characters makes it distinct from other species. Ethnobotany: Used as a lotion for sores. Etymology: Oenothera is from Greek oinos, wine and thera, to imbibe, brachycarpa means short fruit. Synonyms: Lavauxia brachycarpa, Megapterium brachycarpum, Oenothera brachycarpa var. wrightii, O. caespitosa subsp. australis, O. caespitosa var. australis, O. cespitosa var. australis, O. cespitosa subsp. australis Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015