| TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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Jepson Interchange (more information) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Annual to tree
Leaves basal or cauline, alternate, opposite, or whorled, generally simple and toothed (to pinnately compound); stipules 0 or generally deciduous
Inflorescence: spike, raceme, panicle, or flowers solitary in axils; bracted
Flower generally bisexual, generally radial, opening at dawn or dusk; hypanthium sometimes prolonged beyond ovary (measured from ovary tip to sepal base); sepals generally 4(2–7); petals generally 4 (or as many as sepals, rarely 0), often "fading" darker; stamens generally 4 or 8(2), anthers 2-chambered, opening lengthwise, pollen generally interconnected by threads; ovary inferior, chambers generally 4 (sometimes becoming 1), placentas axile or parietal, ovules 1–many per chamber, style 1, stigma 4-lobed (or lobes as many as sepals), club-shaped, or hemispheric
Fruit: capsule, loculicidal (sometimes berry or indehiscent and nut-like)
Seeds sometimes winged or hair-tufted
Genera in family: 15 genera, ± 650 species: worldwide, especially w North America; many cultivated (Clarkia, Epilobium, Fuchsia, Gaura, Oenothera )
Reference: [Munz 1965 North America Fl II 5:1–278]
Annual, biennial, perennial herb, from woody caudex, rhizome, or taproot
Leaves basal and cauline, alternate, sessile; margin generally wavy-dentate
Inflorescence: spike, terminal, bracted
Flower generally bilateral, opening at dusk or dawn; sepals generally 4, generally widely opening; petals generally 4, white or yellow, often fading reddish or purplish; stamens 8, filaments generally with paired teeth at base, anthers attached at middle; ovary chambers generally 4 (in fruit 1), stigma deeply lobed, generally elevated above anthers (plant then cross-pollinated)
Fruit indehiscent, ± erect, nut-like, generally 4-angled or -winged; walls woody; base stalk-like or not
Seeds generally 3–4, generally 2–3 mm, ovoid, generally flat-sided, yellowish to pale brown
Species in genus: 21 species: temp North America (especially TX), C.Am
Etymology: (Greek: proud, from showy flowers of some)
Reference: [Raven & Gregory 1972 Mem Torrey Bot Club 23:1–96]
| Introduced |
Annual, densely short-glandular-hairy, sparsely long-spreading-hairy (leaves also minutely strigose)
Stem erect, 20–200(300) cm; branches generally 0 or below inflorescence
Leaves: cauline 20–125 mm, narrowly elliptic to narrowly ovate, slightly wavy-dentate
Inflorescence: bracts 1.5–5.5 mm
Flower: hypanthium 1.5–5 mm; sepals 2–3.5 mm, barely opening; petals 1.5–3 mm, stigma ± surrounding anthers
Fruit generally reflexed, 5–11 mm, fusiform, 4-angled, 8-ribbed below; stalk-like base 0
Seed 2–3 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=14
Ecology: Cult fields, pastures, waste places, streambanks
Elevation: < 400 m.
Bioregional distribution: San Francisco Bay Area, Southwestern California
Distribution outside California: probably native to c US, naturalized widely
Synonyms: var. lachnocarpa Weath
Self-pollinating.