Onagrariece CEnothera. 



199 



4. (ENOTHERA (including Godetia). 



Herbs, rarely frutescent. Leaves membranous, sessile or 

 petiolate, entire, lobed, or pinnatifid. Flowers usually large 

 and showy, axillary, sessile, or pedunculate. Calyx-tube pro- 

 duced above the seed-yessel, lobes often reflexed and deciduous. 

 Petals 4, not clawed, entire. Stamens 8. Capsule mem- 

 branous or woody, costate, clavate, tetragonal, polygonal or 

 winged. Seeds few or many, with or without an appendage. 

 There are nearly 100 species, with the exception of one Tas- 

 manian species, of American origin. The etymology of the 

 name is not satisfactorily explained. 

 Godetia was formerly separated on 

 insufficient grounds; but it may 

 be remarked that there are no 

 yellow-flowered species belonging to 

 this section, and in CEnothera they 

 are either yellow or white, with one 

 or two exceptions. The species are 

 very similar in appearance, there- 

 fore a small selection will suffice. 



1. (E. rubicunda, syn. Godetia 

 rubicunda (fig. 106). An erect 

 annual about 2 feet high with 

 lilac-purple flowers having a deeper 

 coloured blotch at the base of each 

 petal. One of the most desirable 

 species. Under cultivation it has 

 produced a beautiful blush-white 

 and other varieties. 



2. (E. Whitneyi, syn. Godetia 

 grandiflora. An annual of recent 

 introduction. This is a magnificent 

 species, of dwarf compact habit, 

 bearing a profusion of rosy-red 

 flowers blotched with crimson, and 

 from 3 to 4 inches in diameter. 



Other handsome species of the Godetia section are : (E. 

 roseo-dlba, rosy purple and white, (E. Lindleyana, purple, also 

 with double flowers, and (E. reptans, a trailing species with 

 rose-purple spotted flowers. 



3. (E. blennis. Evening Primrose. This is the species first 



Fig. 106. CEnothera rubicunda. 

 (J nat. size.) 



