Oenothera perennis L.

• Authority

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

• Family

  Onagraceae

• Scientific Name

  Oenothera perennis L.

• Description

  Species Description - Fibrous-rooted perennial (1–)2–6 dm, usually simple; principal lvs oblanceolate to elliptic, (1–)3–6 cm, obtuse, narrowed to a petiolar base, the bracteal shorter and proportionately narrower, but still well developed and generally exceeding the ovary; infl nodding, the axis straightening during anthesis, the fls becoming erect and opening singly, autogamous, diurnal; hypanthium 3–10 mm; pet 5–10 mm, obcordately notched; filaments 3–4 mm, alternately unequal; anthers 1.5–2.5 mm; style 3–10 mm, about equaling the anthers; fr ellipsoid-clavate or oblong, glandular puberulent (or glabrate in age), the body 4–10 mm, tapering to a short pedicel-like base; 2n=14, a complex heterozygote. Moist or dry soil, fields, meadows, and open woods; Nf., and Que. to s. Man., s. to Va., and Mo., and in the mts. to N.C. and S.C. June–Aug. (O. pumila; Kneiffia pumila; K. perennis)

• Common Names

  little sundrops