General:
Biennial herb from a taproot; forming rosette in first year and erect stem in second; densely minutely-stiff-hairy, with spreading hairs from red blister-like bases, glandular in inflorescence; stems 50-150 cm tall.
Leaves:
Stem leaves alternate, elliptic to lanceolate, 5-15 cm long, nearly entire to toothed, crinkled, hairy.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a spike, the buds erect, opening in the evening, subtended by large bracts or reduced leaves; hypanthium 3.5-5 cm long; petals yellow, fading reddish-orange, 3.5-5 cm long; sepals 2.8-4.5 cm long, lobes 4, bent back in flower, the free tips in bud 5-8 mm long; stigmas deeply 4-lobed.
Fruits:
Capsules, erect, narrowly lanceolate, 2-3.5 cm long, 5-6 mm wide, more or less straight, 4-chambered, hairy; seeds 1.3-2 mm long, angled, irregularly pitted, about half sterile.
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Oenothera erythrosepala
Oenothera lamarckiana auct.