EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY. Onagraceae. 





There are several kinds of Sphaerostigma; leaves alter- 

 nate; flowers yellow, white or pink, turning green or 

 reddish; stamens eight, with oblong, swinging anthers; 

 style threadlike, with a round-top stigma; capsule four- 

 celled, usually long and narrow, four-angled, often twisted, 

 with no stalk. 



A common kind, very variable in its 

 manner of growth, being tall and erect in 

 moist, shady places and spreading flat on 

 the ground in dry, sunny spots. The 

 leaves are dull green, more or less downy 

 and more or less toothed, and the flowers 

 are three-quarters of an inch across, clear 

 yellow, usually with a speck, or blotch, of reddish-brown 

 at the base of each petal; the stamens and pistil also 

 yellow; the pods reddish and very much twisted. Gravelly 

 washes are often thickly sprinkled with 

 these gay and charming flowers. 



Much like the last, but the flowers are 

 only a little over a quarter of an inch 

 across. The pods are dark red and shiny, 

 with a few hairs. 



A beautiful seashore plant, formii 

 large, low clumps of reclining stems 

 pale gray, downy foliage, the twigs 

 and younger leaves silvery-white. The 

 cheiranthifolia var. flowers are about an inch and a quarter 



across ' clear y ellow ' often with two dark 



re( ^ ^ots at ^ e ^ ase ^ eac ^ P eta ^ ^ e 

 stamens and pistil also yellow of the same 

 shade; the pods pinkish, downy, and much 

 twisted. The flat masses of pale foliage, strewn with 

 golden disks, are exceedingly effective, growing in drift 

 sand hills along the coast, from San Francisco south. 



Sphaer 



bistorta 



(Oenothera) 



Yellow 



Spring 



California 



Sphaerostigma 



Veitchianum 



(Oenothera) 



Yellow 



Spring 



California 



Beach Primrose 



Sphaerostigma 



viridescens 



(Oenothera 



ning 

 and 



All seasons 

 California 



324 



