[Illustration: ERECT EVENING-PRIMROSE]
Calyx joined to ovary and often produced beyond it; petals usually 4;
stamens usually 4 or 8; ovary inferior; seeds numerous.
Erect Evening-Primrose (_Œnothera heterophylla_) grows in sandy soil in
Florida and on the edge of post oak woods in South-central Texas. The
plants bloom in April and May. It is very much like the rhombic
evening-primrose (_Œnothera rhombipetala_) but has slenderer, shorter
stems and is not often branched. The petals are similar, and their
rhombic shape easily distinguishes both of these plants from other
evening-primroses. The rhombic primrose grows 2-3 feet high and is very
abundant throughout the sandy area of North-central Texas to Minnesota
and Indiana.
There are many yellow evening-primroses very much alike in flower which
are usually called buttercups, a name first applied to the crowfoots.
The flowers usually have four showy petals which last only a day,
opening in the late afternoons and closing in the heat of the following
day. The seed capsules are usually long and narrow and are borne below
the petals. The fireweed is a well-known member of this group. The water
evening-primrose (_Jussiæa diffusa_) is abundant in ponds in Central and
East Texas.
[Illustration: PINK EVENING-PRIMROSE]
Pink Evening-Primrose. Pink Buttercup (_Hartmannia tetraptera_) blooms
best in April, but a few scattered plants may continue to bloom through
the summer months. It is a perennial plant which does well in
cultivation. White, pink, blush, and other shades were introduced by
Childs in 1892 from seeds collected in Texas and were known as the
Mexican evening-primrose.
The earlier flowers are usually much larger than those which bloom late
in the season. The flowers are cup-shaped, 2-4 inches broad, with 4
broad petals marked with deeper-colored veining and greenish-yellow at
the base. The sepals are united into a narrow tube above the seed
capsule and below the petals. This tube is about as long as the capsule,
sometimes a little shorter. The sepals do not overlap, are slow about
splitting, and are pushed to one side of the flower by the opening
petals. The seeds are borne in a club-shaped capsule which is
prominently ridged, the slender base being as long as the enlarged
seed-bearing portion.
The stems are usually trailing and branched at the base, sometimes
forming clumps two or more feet broad. The leaves are quite variable in
shape but are generally oblong and narrowed at the base, with margins
ranging from entire to deeply lobed and divided.
The group name honors Emanuel Hartmann of Louisiana; “tetraptera” is
from the Greek meaning “four-winged” and refers to the shape of the
seed-capsule. The plants in this group are sometimes placed with the
yellow evening-primroses of the Œnothera group, but characteristics
other than color separate them.
Showy Primrose (_Hartmannia speciosa_) is a large-flowered white
primrose found on plains and prairies from North Texas to Missouri. The
seed-capsules are narrowed at the base but are not stalked, and the
calyx tube is longer than the capsule.
Rose Primrose (_Hartmannia rosea_) is a small-flowered primrose found in
Southern and Southwestern Texas and Mexico. The flowers are small, an
inch or more broad, with rounded deep-pink petals. The calyx tube is
much shorter than the long-stalked capsule.
[Illustration: FLUTTER-MILL]
Missouri Primrose. Flutter-Mill. Broad-Winged Evening-Primrose
(_Megapterium missouriense_) clings to the side of a gravelly cliff or
grows on rocky limestone hillsides from Missouri to Colorado and Texas.
The flowers bloom in Texas in April and May, opening in the afternoon
and closing the next morning. The plants grow in low clumps about a foot
high. Numerous flowers are borne on the stem along with the slender
leaves. Four broad yellow petals make up the cup-shaped portion of the
flower above the slender calyx-tube, which is 4-6 in. long. The
seed-capsules at the base of the flower develop four broad papery wings
and reach at maturity a width of 3 in. These broad wings are responsible
for the scientific name of the plant. The capsules are easily blown
about by the wind, and the seeds are widely scattered.
The evening-primroses usually produce large, thready masses of pollen.
Every child is initiated into a buttercup fraternity at some period in
his life by being invited to smell of the flower and having his nose
smeared with the profuse pollen.
[Illustration: SQUARE-BUD PRIMROSE]
Square-Bud Primrose. Day Primrose. Creamcups (_Meriolix spinulosa_) has
yellow cup-shaped flowers which last only twenty-four hours but which
are open during the day. It may readily be distinguished from other
evening-primroses by the slender woody stems which soon become reddish
or straw-colored. The stems grow 1-1½ ft. high with clusters of flowers
at the top. The flowers are nearly two inches broad and have four
petals. The short, broad sepals are winged on the back and make the buds
appear square and pointed.
Another distinguishing feature is the disk-shaped stigma which is
sometimes yellow and sometimes black or dark brown. In the
evening-primroses previously mentioned, the stigma is divided into four
narrow lobes. The plants grow on gravelly hillsides from Arkansas to
Mexico. The slender capsules are over an inch long. Several other day
primroses are found in the state. They are all sometimes grouped with
the œnotheras.
[Illustration: LARGE-FLOWERED GAURA WILD HONEYSUCKLE]
Large-Flowered or Lindheimer’s Gaura (_Gaura lindheimeri_) is, like
other members of this group, called kisses and wild honeysuckle because
of its sweet fragrance. Most of them produce an abundance of nectar and
make excellent honey plants. This is the handsomest member of the group
in Texas and is known in cultivation as a hardy plant. It is native to
the prairies of Southeast Texas and Louisiana and blooms from March to
May.
The four white petals have the group characteristic of turning fan-wise
toward the upper side of the flower, and the 8 long stamens and the long
style hang toward the lower part. Only a few flowers open at one time
around the spike, but numerous buds are densely crowded above the open
flowers. This plant has erect-ascending branches and grows 2-5 feet
high.
Prairie Gaura. Wild Honeysuckle (_Gaura brachycarpa_) sometimes grows
2-3 feet high, but is usually much lower. With favorable rains, the
flowering spikes grow quite long. This gaura may be recognized by its
stalkless 4-angled seed capsules. It blooms on Texas prairies in April
and May. Many other gauras are found in the state.