| 1. Stigma cruciately 4-parted, the lobes mostly elongated: tube of the calyx
much produced, linear, cylindrical, or somewhat Wangled, slightly dilated at
the summit: petals mostly obovate or obcordate (never lilac or purple):
stamens scarcely unequal, often a little declined: anthers linear or linear-oblong,
fixed near the middle, versatile : capsules thick and coriaceous or somewhat
ligneous.—E ucenothera.
* Annual or biennial caulescent herbs: flowers (mostly large) erect before expansion,
nocturnal, fugacious, yellow, usually turning to rose-color or violet in
fading: capsule coriaceous, sessile, more or less cylindrical or oblong-conic, 4-
ribbed, somewhat 4-sided : seeds very numerous, and arranged in two rows in
each cell, nearly horizontal or ascending.—Onagra, Tourn, (CEnothera & On,
agra, Spach.)
1. CE. biennis (Linn.): stem erect, mostly simple, usually hirsute ; leaves
ovate-lanceolate, repandly denticulate, acute, more or less pubescent; flowers
in a terminal somewhat leafy spike ; tube of the calyx much longer than
the ovary, and from one-half to 2—3 times longer than the segments;
stamens slightly declined; capsules oblong, slightly tapering above, obscurely
4-sided or almost terete; the valves 1-ribbed.—Onagra vulgaris & chry-
santha, Spach, l. c.
а. vulgaris : petals a little longer than the stamens, slightly obcordate.—
CE. biennis, Linn. ! spec. 1. p. 346 ; Michx. ! fl. 1. p. 224; Engl. bot. t.
1534 ; DC.! prodr. 3 .p. 46 ; Hook.! fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 209. CE. gauroi-
des, Homem.hort. Hafn,
0. muricata: petals a little longer than the stamens ; stem and ovaries
strigose-hirsute.—CE. muricata, Murr. in comm. Ooett. 6. t. 1 ; Pursh, l. c. ;
Fl. Dan. t. 1752 ; DC. 1. c.
y. grandiftora: petals large, much longer than the stamens, rather deeply
obcordate.—CE- grandiflora, Ait. Kew. (ed. 1.) 2. p. 2 ; Bot. mag, t. 2048.
CE. suaveolens, JDesf. cat. CE. Lamarkiana, Seringe, in DC. 1. c.
б. parviflora: petals small, about the length of the stamens; tube of the
calyx 2-3 times the length of the segments ; ovaries slightly hirsute,—CE-
-parviflora, Linn.! spec. (ed. 2.) 1 .p. 492.
£. cruciata: petals (abortive) linear-oblong, shorter than the stamens;
tube of the calyx 2-3 times the length of' the segments; capsules nearly
glabrous.—CE. cruciata, Nutt.! in DC. 1. e. (under CE. parviflora.)
S’. canescens: petals longer than the stamens: stem and leaves canescently
hairy; capsules canescent.
Throughout N. America from lat. 56° to Florida! Arkansas! and Oregon!
and naturalized in Europe. June-Aug.—Stem 1-5 feet high. Flowers
mostly pale yellow.—Many other varieties of this common and variable
species might be given: certainly none of them deserve the rank of species.—
Evening Primrose,
2. CE. bifrons (Don) : pubescent; stem erect, often branching above ;
leaves oblong or ovate, the upper ones short, closely sessile and somewhat
cordate, denticulate; spikes elongated; bracts ovate-cordate ; tube of the
calyx very slender, much longer than the segments and many times longer
than the slightly hairy ovary ; petals (rather large) entire, about the length
of the stamens; capsules prismatic-cylindrical, nearly glabrous.—Don, in
Brit. fl. gard. (ser. 2) t. 386; Hook.! bot. mag. t. 3764. CE. heterophylla,
Spach, Onagr. p. 28 ?
Texas, Drummond !—This species is allied to CE. biennis, but appears to
be distinct. The young fruit is more slender, sometimes incurved, and of
the same diameter throughout. It is probably the CE. heterophylla of
Spach ; but we do not observe the deeply sinuate-toothed lower leaves, nor
the hirsute-tomentose ovaries.
3. CE. Drummondii (Hook.): clothed with a soft pubescence; stem decumbent
; leaves ovate-elliptical or oblong, rather obtuse; the lower ones
tapering into a petiole, somewhat sinuately toothed, the upper ones obscurely
denticulate; flowers (very large) axillary; tube of the calyx equalling in
length the segments and the hirsute ovary; petals much longer than the
slightly declined stamens, a little exceeding the calyx-segments; capsules
(immature) cylindrical, elongated, hirsute-pubescent, slightly pedicelled.—
Hook. ! bot. mag. t. 3361 ; Spach, Onagr. p. 28.
Texas, Drummond!—Stem about 2 feet long, thick. Floral leaves as
long as the tube of the calyx. Corolla about 3 inches in breadth. Ovary
an inch long : style about the length of the petals.
4. CE. Jamesii: canescently strigose; stem decumbent; leaves oblong-
lanceolate, repandly denticulate, acute; flowers (very large) paniculate at
the summit of the stem; tube of the calyx (very long) more than twice the
length of the segments and many times longer than the ovary; petals
scarcely longer than the slightly declined stamens; anthers very long, fixed
below the middle ; style exserted ; ovary cylindrical.
On the Platte or Canadian River, Dr. James !—Reaves (upper ones) 3-5
inches long, clothed equally on both sides with a short appressed rough
pubescence. Bracts rather shorter than the ovary. Calyx canescent: the
tube rather stout, 3-4 inches long, a little curved, slightly dilated at the
summit. Petals apparently yellow, turning to rose-color. Anthers three-
fourths of an inch in length. - Stigmas linear, rather thick. Ovary less than
an inch in length, canescent. Fruit unknown.—We have only an imperfect
specimen of this apparently very distinct species.
5. CE. Hookeri: canescently pubescent and somewhat villous; stem
erect, angled ; leaves lanceolate, sessile, rather acute, obscurely denticulate,
not undulate; flowers (large) sessile, in a leafy spike; calyx villous; the
tube twice the length of the ovary, rather shorter than the slightly acuminate
segments; petals obcordate, about the length of the style; stigmas linear,
somewhat thickened; capsules short.—CE. odorata? Hook. Sp A m .! bot.
Beechey, suppl. p. 343, scarcely of Jacq. _
California, Douglas !—Stem stout and tall, strict, strongly angled: pubescence
soft and minute, with long and coarser hairs intermixed. Petals
apparently yellow, turning to rose-color. Ripe fruit unknown.—This plant
differs from CE. odorata (which is said to be a native of Patagonia) in its
plane leaves, which are not attenuated to a sharp point, its perfectly sessile
ovaries, &c., and is besides more hairy. In the collection of Dr. James,
made near the sources of the Platte or Canadian, we have a fragment apparently
of the same species.
6. CE. rhombipetala (Nutt. ! mss.) : minutely pubescent; stem tall,
erect; leaves linear-lanceolate, obscurely denticulate, acute ; the lower ones
elongated, tapering into a short petiole; the radical ones somewhat pinnatifid
or sinuate; spike strict, elongated ; bracts foliaceous, much shorter than the
(rather large) flowers; tube of the calyx very slender, rather longer than
the segments and several times longer than the ovary; petals rhombic-
obovate, acute or acuminate, shorter than the style and about the length of
the stamens ; anthers inserted near the base ; capsules very small, cylindrical.
J
Plains of Red River, Arkansas, Nuttall! Dr. Engelmann. Woods near