Oenothera speciosa

Perennial by creeping roots (sometimes annual?), ascending to erect, 1-6 dm; lvs linear to lanceolate or oblanceolate, 3-8 cm, gradually tapering to a petiolar base, entire to runcinate-pinnatifid, the basal half commonly more coarsely toothed than the upper; fls few, sessile in the upper axils, erect, buds nodding, long-acuminate; hypanthium slender, 1-2 cm, strigose; sep lance-linear, reflexed at anthesis, 1.5-2.5 cm, usually long connivent; pet obcordate, white or pink, 2-4 cm; stamens alternately unequal; fr narrowly obovoid or clavate, 10-18 mm, 4-sided, roundly 8-ribbed and deeply sulcate, tapering to both ends, sterile below; 2n=14. Dry, open places; Mo. and Kans. to Tex., and intr. eastward. May, June. (Hartmannia s.)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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Kearney and Peebles 1969, McDougall 1973, Wagner et. all 2007

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Subshrub General: Herbaceous to suffrutescent perennials, stems several, slender, branching or occasionally simple, herbage pubescent, plants with creeping rhizomes. Leaves: Alternate, cauline or in a basal rosette, blades elliptic to elliptic-oblanceolate or ovate, sometimes lanceolate, cauline leaves 1-7 cm long, margins subserrate to weakly sinuate-dentate or occasionally sinuate-pinnatifid, short-petioled to subsessile. Flowers: White to rose-colored, petals obcordate, 2.5-4 cm long, sepals 1-2 cm long, the long-acuminate lobes united but free at the tips, calyx, stamens, borne few to several in upper leaf axils, nodding in bud on reflexed stems, buds rounded in cross-section with free tips to 4 mm long, flowers opening in the evening. Fruits: Capsules club-shaped, strongly 8-ribbed, the main body 3-5 mm thick and attenuate to a slender base, the upper face of each valve with a prominent rib. Seeds obovoid to fusiform, clustered in 2 or more rows in each cell. Ecology: Found from 3,000-3,500 ft (914-1067 m); flowering May-June. Distribution: Missouri and Kansas to Texas, Arizona, and Mexico. Notes: Look to the nodding buds and the white to pink flower petals 2.5-4 cm long to help identify this species. Ethnobotany: There is no use recorded for this species, but other species in this genus have uses. Etymology: Oenothera is from Greek oinos, wine and thera, to imbibe, while speciosa means showy. Synonyms: None Editor: LCrumbacher 2012