180 ONAGRACEAE 



in tetrads. Stigma with 4 cuneate lobes. Capsule 4-celled, 4-valved, sessile. Seeds smooth, 

 without a coma. [Named for Jean Alphonse Boisduval, French naturalist and physician.] 



Genus of 10 species of the western United States and adjacent Canada and of Chile, Argentina, and Tas- 

 mania. Type species, Oenothera concinna D. Don. 



Capsule septifragal, the septa wholly adherent to the placental axis, making the latter 4-winged; leaves lanceolate, 

 toothed, the upper broader. 1. B. densiflora. 



Capsule subterete and loculicidal, the septa adherent to the valves in dehiscence, or capsule 4-sided and not 

 dehiscent. 



Capsule coriaceous, 4-sided, tardily if at all dehiscent; leaves narrowly lanceolate; ovules rather numerous, 



10-14 in each row. 2. B. cleistogama. 



Capsule membranous, terete, usually dehiscent; ovules fewer, except sometimes in B. glabella. 

 Hypanthium 0.5-1 mm. long; petals 1.5-4 mm. long. 



Floral leaves ovate or oblong, broader than the foliage leaves; petals 2-4 mm. long; capsule 6-8 

 mm. long, quite straight. 3. B. glabella. 



Floral leaves linear; petals 1-2 mm. long; capsule 8-10 mm. long, usually curved. 



5. B. striata. 

 Hypanthium 2-3 mm. long; petals S-10 mm. long. 



Leaves serrulate, crowded; petals 7-10 mm. long; capsule straight. 4. B. macrantha. 



Leaves quite entire, not crowded; petals 5-8 mm. long; capsule curved. 6. B. pallida. 



1. Boisduvalia densiflora (Lindl.) S. Wats. Dense-flowered Boisduvalia. 



Fig. 3383. 



Oenothera densiflora Lindl. Bot. Reg. 19: pi. 1593. 1833. 



Boisduvalia Douglasii Spach, Hist. Veg. 4: 385. 1835. 



Boisduvalia densiflora S. Wats. Bot. Calif. 1 : 233. 1876. 



Boisduvalia densiflora var. imbricata Greene, Fl. Fran. 225. 1891. 



Boisduvalia bipartita Greene, Erythea 3: 119. 1895. 



Boisduvalia densiflora var. montana Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Calif. 330. 1901. 



Simple or branched, particularly above, usually 3-10 dm. tall, commonly villous, green to 

 canescent, leafy throughout. Lower leaves lanceolate to lance-linear, acute, entire or denticulate, 

 2-5 cm. long, the floral ones ovate, acute, 5-12 mm. long, sometimes densely imbricated and con- 

 cealing the capsules ; inflorescence dense, long-spicate in fruit ; sepals 2-4 mm. long, lanceolate ; 

 petals rose-purple, sometimes whitish, bilobed, 6-12 mm. long ; capsule stout, straight, 8-10 mm. 

 long, septifragal, the septa adhering to the placenta which thus becomes 4-angled; seeds few, 

 ovoid, angled, brown, paler at ends, concave on inner face, 1.5 mm. long. 



In places moist in the early season. Upper Sonoran and Transition Zones; British Columbia to southern 

 California, Idaho, and Nevada. Type locality: "Northern California." May-Aug. An exceedingly variable 

 species. 



Boisduvalia densiflora var. pallescens Suksd. Deutsch. Bot. Monatss. 18:88. 1900. Pubescence spread- 

 ing, usually with some gland-tipped hairs; floral bracts often remote, broadly ovate gradually acuminate; flowers 

 pale; seeds 3-4 in each cell, 2 mm. long. Intergrading with the typical species and variety saticina. Klickitat 

 County, Washington, south to Placer County, California. Type locality: near Bingen, Klickitat County, Wash- 

 ington. 



Boisduvalia densiflora var. salicina (Nutt.) Munz, Leaflets West. Bot. 3: 53. 1941. {Oenothera salicina 

 Nutt. ex Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 505. 1840; Boisduvalia sparsiflora Heller, Muhlenbergia 1: 42. 1904.) 

 Pubescence short strigose-canescent, the hairs not gland-tipped; petals pale, mostly 2.5-5 mm. long. Eastern 

 Washington and Idaho south to Nevada County, California, and western Nevada. Type locality: "On the 

 Wahlamet and Wallawallah," Oregon. 



2. Boisduvalia cleistogama Curran. Cleistogamous Boisduvalia. Fig. 3384. 



Boisduvalia cleistogama Curran, Bull. Calif. Acad. 1: 12. 1884. 



Erect and simple, or more usually branched from the base, 1-2 dm. tall, more or less villous 

 and glandular throughout, densely leafy. Leaves linear to lanceolate, 2-3 cm. long, 1 . 5-5 mm. 

 wide, acute, remotely denticulate, pale, not much reduced up the stem; flowers axillary along the 

 branches, the earliest cleistogamous, the latter rose-colored; sepals 1-2 mm. long; petals bifid, 

 3 mm. long; capsule hard, coriaceous, 4-sided, sharply angled, and with 4 nerves, pointed, slightly 

 curved, 1 cm. long, 1.5 mm. thick, tardily if at all dehiscent; seeds light brown, linear, angled, 

 1-1.5 mm. long. 



Dried beds of vernal pools, Upper Sonoran Zone; Great Valley of California. Type locality: Elmira, 

 Solano County, California. May-June. 



3. Boisduvalia glabella (Nutt.) Walp. Smooth Boisduvalia. Fig. 3385. 



Oenothera glabella Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1 : 505. 1840. 

 Boisduvalia glabella Walp. Rep. 2:89. 1843. 



Simple or more frequently freely and decumbently branched from base, 10-30 cm. tall, 

 glabrate or pubescent on veins, or throughout, the stems uniformly leafy. Leaves sessile, lance- 

 ovate to -oblong, acute, serrulate, bright green, 1-1.5 cm. long; flowers axillary, sometimes even 

 in lowest axils ; sepals 2 mm. long; petals purplish, 2-4 mm. long; capsule 6-8 mm. long, straight, 

 pointed at tip ; seeds numerous, grayish brown, narrowly subfusiform, angled, 1 mm. long. 



Dry mud flats and vernal pools. Upper Sonoran Zone; at scattered stations from British Columbia to 

 southern California, Saskatchewan, and Nevada, and also Argentina. Type locality: "Plains of the Oregon east 

 of Wallawallah." June-Aug. 



Boisduvalia glabella var. campestris Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Calif, ed. 2. 276. 1911. (Boisduvalia 

 campestris Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Calif. 330. 19U1.) Leaves of the upper branches ovate to oblong-ovate, densely 

 overlapping and concealing the capsules. Modoc County and Glenn and Butte Counties south to Monterey and 

 Merced Counties, Califoniia. Type locality: Little Oak, Vacaville, Solano County. 



