ONAGRACEAE 



EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY 



MEADOW SUNDROPS 



Oenothera pratcnsis (Small) Robinson 



The Meadow Sundrops is closely related and very similar 

 to the Evening Primrose, page 210, but it is perennial and its 

 large and handsome yellow flowers open in the morning instead 

 of evening. It can easily be grown 

 under cultivation and will be ad- 

 mired in any flower garden. It grows 

 in open places and rather low grounds 

 from Ohio and Iowa south to Arkan- 

 sas, and blooms from June to August. 



The stem is 1-2 >^ feet high, often 

 branching near the top, and is 

 covered with long, soft, widely 

 spreading hairs. The leaves are 

 oblong-lanceolate, one-half to three- 

 quarters of an inch long, and slightly 

 coarse or stiff hairy on both surfaces. 



Flowers on the upper part of the 

 stem are terminal, and the lower 

 ones are produced in the axils of 

 decidedly leaflike bracts. As in all 

 members of the family, the flower 

 parts are attached above the ovary. 

 The calyx tube is slender and ends 

 in 4 lobes which are finally reflexed. 

 The 4 large bright yellow petals 

 and 4 long stamens alternating with 

 4 short are attached to the calyx 

 tube. The style is slender and the 

 stigma 4-cleft. The capsule is some- 

 what club shaped, 4-angled, promi- 

 nently winged and very hairy. The seeds are numerous. 



The Common Sundrops, Oenothera fruticosa L., is very similar 

 and the two are often confused. This plant, however, grows in 

 drier soil and is ordinarily less hairy or nearly smooth. The spikes 

 are on naked peduncles. The capsule is oblong, winged and either 

 hairy or smoothish. This species is found on dry sandy soil from 

 southern New England to South Carolina, and also in Ohio, Michi- 

 gan and Indiana. 



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