GENUS 14. 



EVENING-PRIMROSE FAMILY. 



605 



i. Gaurella canescens (Torr.) Small. Spotted Primrose. Fig. 3061. 



Oenothera canescens Torr. Frem. Rep. 315. 1845. 

 Oenothcra guttulata Geyer ; Hook. Lond. Journ. 



Bot. 6 : 222. 1847. 

 Gaurella guttulata Small, Bull. Torr. Club 23 : 183. 



1896. 



Diffusely branched from near or at the base, 

 4.'-8' high, canescent with appressed hairs, the 

 branches decumbent or ascending. Leaves 

 lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, nearly sessile 

 and narrowed at the base, obtusish at the apex, 

 4"-8" long, ii"-2" wide, repand-denticulate or 

 entire; flowers axillary, white or pink, g"-i2" 

 wide ; calyx-lobes lanceolate, canescent, the 

 tube longer than the ovary ; petals obovate, 

 entire ; capsule ovate, canescent, 4"-5" long, 

 angled, not winged, sessile ; seeds angled, 

 slipper-shaped. 



Prairies, Nebraska to Texas, Colorado and New 

 Mexico. June-Sept. 



15. MEGAPTERIUM Spach, Hist. Veg. 4: 363. 1835. 



Low perennial herbs with stout sparingly branched stems. Leaves numerous, alternate, 

 narrow, entire or slightly toothed. Flowers perfect, few, but large and showy, axillary, 

 yellow. Calyx-tube much elongated, dilated toward the throat ; calyx-segments narrow, the 

 tips free in the bud. Petals 4, spreading. Stamens 8, the alternate ones longer; filaments 

 filiform; anthers linear. Ovary 4-celled, 4-angled or 4-winged; united styles filiform; stigma 

 4-cleft ; ovules few, sessile in rows. Capsules broadly 4-winged. Seeds few, crested. [Greek, 

 broad-winged.] 



About 4 species, in North America and Mexico. Type species : Megapterium Nuttallianum 

 Spach. 



Flowers 3' 6' broad; capsules suborbicular, 2' 2^/4' long. i. M. missouriense. 

 Flowers i' 2' broad; capsules oblong, g"-i 4" long. 



Densely finely canescent. 2. M. Fremontii. 



Glabrous. 3. M. oklahomense. 



i. Megapterium missouriense (Sims) 

 Spach. Missouri Primrose. Fig. 3062. 



Oenothera missouriensis Sims. Bot. Mag. pi- 1592. 



1814. 

 Oenothera macrocarpa Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept. 



734. 1814. 

 Megapterium missouriense Spach, Hist. Veg. 4 : 



364- 1835. 



Tufted, stems decumbent or ascending, 

 finely and densely canescent, 6 '-12' long. 

 Leaves thick, linear-lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, acuminate or acute at the apex, 

 narrowed at the base into a slender petiole 

 or the uppermost nearly sessile, entire or re- 

 motely denticulate, a'-6' long, 2"-8" wide; 

 flowers 3'-6' broad; calyx-lobes broadly lan- 

 ceolate, spreading, the tube 2'-6' long, 6-12 

 times the length of the ovary; capsule short- 

 stalked, nearly orbicular, very broadly winged, 

 finely canescent, or glabrate when mature, 

 i'-3' long. 



In dry soil, Missouri to Nebraska, Colorado 

 and Texas. May- July. 



