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Oenothera grandis

(Largeflower Eveningprimrose)

Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Largeflower Eveningprimrose, Showy Evening-Primrose, Showy Eveningprimrose

Description

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Family Onagraceae

Annual or perennial herbs, or shrubs , rarely trees to 30 m tall, often with epidermal oil cells , usually with internal phloem . Leaves simple , spirally arranged , opposite, or occasionally whorled , entire or toothed to pinnatifid ; stipules present and usually caducous , or absent. Flowers perfect and hermaphroditic or occasionally unisexual , actinomorphic or zygomorphic, (2-) 4(-7) -merous, axillary , in leafy spikes or racemes or solitary, or occasionally in panicles, all but Ludwigia with distinct floral tube , nectariferous within. Sepals green or colored , valvate . Petals as many as sepals or rarely absent, variously colored, imbricate or convolute and occasionally clawed. Stamens as many as sepals in one series or 2 × as many as sepals in 2 series [in Lopezia Cavanilles reduced to 2 or 1 plus 1 sterile staminode]; anthers versatile or basifixed , dithecal , sometimes cross-partitioned, opening by longitudinal slits; pollen grains almost always united by viscin threads, shed as monads , tetrads , or polyads . Ovary inferior, with as many carpels and locules as sepals, septa sometimes thin or absent at maturity; placentation axile or parietal , ovules 1 to many per locule, in 1 or several rows or clustered, anatropous , bitegmic; style 1; stigma with as many lobes as sepals or clavate to globose . Fruit a loculicidal capsule or indehiscent nut or berry. Seeds small, smooth or variously sculptured , sometimes with a coma [or wing], with straight oily embryo, endosperm lacking.

Seventeen genera and ca. 650 species: widespread in temperate and subtropical areas, but best represented in W North America; six genera (two introduced ), 64 species (11 endemic, 11 introduced), and five natural hybrids (two endemic) in China.

Onagraceae are a well-defined, monophyletic family in the order Myrtales, with a sister relationship to Lythraceae. Within the order Myrtales, the Onagraceae are distinguished by a number of features including (1) a distinctive 4-nucleate embryo sac; (2) abundant raphides in vegetative cells ; (3) paracrystalline beaded pollen ektexine; and (4) pollen with viscin threads.

Some species of Oenothera are grown for the oil in their seeds, which contains gamma linolenic acid (GLA), used for medicinal purposes. Several species of Onagraceae also are cultivated in China for their horticultural value, including species of Fuchsia Linnaeus (generally distinguished by having large, tubular , red or orange flowers and fleshy berries ) and Clarkia Pursh (distinguished by having stigmas with commissural lobes with dry, unicellular papillae, and dry, elongate capsules similar to those of Epilobium but lacking comas on the seeds) . The most commonly cultivated Fuchsia is F. ×hybrida Hort. and the related F. magellanica Lamarck in F. sect. Quelusia (Vandelli) Candolle from South America; F. triphylla Linnaeus, in F. sect. Fuchsia, from Hispaniola, is known from only one gathering in Fujian. Similarly, Clarkia amoena (Lehmann) A. Nelson & J. F. Macbride is widely cultivated in China, whereas C. pulchella Pursh is known from only one gathering in Xizang; both species are native to W North America. There are no naturalized species of either Clarkia or Fuchsia in China.[1]

Genus Oenothera

Annual , biennial or perennial herbs, caulescent or acaulescent , with a taproot or fibrous roots , occasionally with rhizomes or shoots arising from spreading lateral roots . Leaves alternate or in a basal rosette that often is absent in mature plants , entire, toothed to pinnatifid ; stipules absent. Flowers perfect , actinomorphic , in axils of upper leaves, when numerous forming terminal leafy spikes, racemes , or corymbs, opening near sunset or near sunrise. Floral tube usually well developed, cylindric and somewhat flared near mouth , deciduous soon after anthesis . Sepals 4, green or yellowish, often tinged or striped red or purple. Petals 4, yellow, purple, pink, or white. Stamens 8; anthers versatile; pollen shed singly. Ovary with 4 locules; ovules numerous; stigma divided into 4 linear lobes , receptive all around, and subtended by a ± conspicuous ringlike indusium in early development, but often obscured when receptive. Fruit a dehiscent capsule [rarely indehiscent outside of China], straight or curved , terete to 4-angled or winged , sessile, occasionally pedicellate , or basal portion sterile and stipelike. Seeds numerous, in 1 or 2(or 3) rows or in clusters in each of 4 locules. 2n = 14, 28, 42, 56.

One hundred and twenty-one species: open, often disturbed habitats in temperate to subtropical areas of North, Central, and South America, with the center of diversity in SW North America; ten species (all naturalized within the past 200 years) in China.

Oenothera is currently divided into 15 sections , only three of which are represented in China. An evolutionary phenomenon that has occurred repeatedly in Oenothera (52 species) and several other genera of tribe Onagreae is permanent translocation heterozygosity , a peculiar, specialized genetic system based on heterozygosity for successive chromosomal translocations and manifested by autogamy and formation of a ring of 14 chromosomes at meiotic metaphase I (for reviews see Cleland, Oenothera Cytogenetics and Evolution. 1972; Holsinger and Ellstrand, Amer. Naturalist 124: 48-71. 1984). Permanent translocation heterozygote individuals breed true for their series of reciprocal translocations and are maintained by either balanced lethals or selective fertilization. These plants are essentially clonal. Many species of Oenothera that have become naturalized outside their natural range are permanent translocation heterozygotes, as noted in their descriptions .[2]

Physical Description

Habit: Forb/herb

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,341 meters (0 to 4,400 feet).[3]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Annual

Taxonomy

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Unambiguous Synonyms

  1. Oenothera laciniata var. grandiflora (S. Wats.) B. L. Robins.
  2. Raimannia grandis (Britt.) Rose


Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Place of publication : Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci. 6:160. 1899

Name verified on 17-Jan-2001 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 18-Nov-2005

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Oenothera

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 837 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

O. aberrans · O. abramsi · O. abramsii · O. acaulis (Dandelion-Leaved Sundrop) · O. acaulis alba · O. acaulis 'Aurea' (Dandelion-Leaved Sundrop) · O. acaulis 'Lutea' · O. acaulis var. caulescens · O. acaulis var. grandiflora · O. acaulis var. major · O. acuticarpa · O. acutifolia · O. acutissima (Flaming Gorge Evening-Primrose) · O. adriatica · O. affinis (Long-Flower Evening-Primrose) · O. agari · O. agassizia · O. alata · O. alba · O. albescens · O. albicans · O. albicaulis (White-Stem Evening-Primrose) · O. albicaulis f. acaulis · O. albicaulis f. anthoxantha · O. albicaulis f. californica · O. albicaulis f. decumbens · O. albicaulis f. dentata · O. albicaulis f. erosa · O. albicaulis f. mucronata · O. albicaulis f. pinnatifida · O. albicaulis f. sinuata · O. albicaulis runcinata · O. albicaulis var. brevifolia · O. albicaulis var. californica · O. albicaulis var. decumbens · O. albicaulis var. gypsophila · O. albicaulis var. melanosperma · O. albicaulis var. nuttallii · O. albicaulis var. pallida · O. albicaulis var. runcinata · O. albicaulis var. tigrina · O. albicaulis var. trichocalyx · O. albicaulis var. xanthosperma · O. albida · O. albinervis · O. albipercurva · O. alyssoides · O. alyssoides var. decorticans · O. alyssoides var. minutiflora · O. alyssoides var. typica · O. alyssoides villosa · O. ambigua · O. ammophila · O. ammophila var. germanica · O. ammophila var. rhodoneura · O. ammophiloides · O. ammophiloides var. angustifolia · O. ammophiloides var. flecticaulis · O. ammophiloides var. laurensis · O. ammophiloides var. parva · O. amoena · O. amoena f. bicolor · O. amoena f. lindleyi · O. amoena f. roseo-alba · O. amoena f. rubicunda · O. amoena f. vinosa · O. andina · O. andina f. tripetala · O. andina var. anomala · O. andina var. typica · O. angelorum · O. angustifolia · O. angustissima · O. angustissima var. quebecensis · O. anisoloba · O. anomala · O. apicaborta · O. 'Apricot Delight' · O. arborea · O. arcuata · O. arenaria · O. arequipensis · O. argentinae · O. argillicola (Shale-Barren Evening-Primrose) · O. argillicola var. wherryi · O. arguta · O. arida · O. arizonica · O. arnottii · O. ascendens · O. asperifolia · O. atrovirens · O. atrovirens var. ostreae · O. aurantia · O. auricula · O. auricula f. vimineiformis · O. auricula var. bottae · O. auricula var. tenella · O. auricula var. whitneyi · O. australis

More Info

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Further Reading

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  • Chen Chiajui, Lu Shangzhi & Li Yibin. 2000. Onagraceae. In: Chen Chiajui, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 53(2): 27-133.
  • Chen Chiajui, Lu Shangzhi & Li Yibin. 2000. Onagraceae. In: Chen Chiajui, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 53(2): 27-133.

    • Notes

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    Contributors

    Data Sources

    Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 22, 2007:

    Identifiers

    Footnotes

    1. Jiarui Chen, Peter C. Hoch, Peter H. Raven, David E. Boufford & Warren L. Wagner "Onagraceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 274, 290, 400. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
    2. Jiarui Chen, Peter C. Hoch & Warren L. Wagner "Oenothera". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 400, 423, 427. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
    3. Mean = 422.170 meters (1,385.072 feet), Standard Deviation = 320.950 based on 151 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
    Last Revised: 2009-07-15