Oenothera glazioviana

(Redirected from Oenothera gigas)

Oenothera glazioviana is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common names large-flowered evening-primrose[1] and redsepal evening primrose.[2] Oenothera lamarckiana was formerly believed to be a different species, but is now regarded as a synonym of Oe. glazioviana.

Oenothera glazioviana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Onagraceae
Genus: Oenothera
Species:
O. glazioviana
Binomial name
Oenothera glazioviana
Synonyms
  • Oenothera erythrosepala (Borbás) Borbás
  • Oenothera lamarckiana Ser.

Many others

The plant can be found in scattered locations worldwide, mostly as an introduced species. It originated in Brazil.

It has long been cultivated as an ornamental plant. In some locations it has become an invasive species.

Description

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Oenothera glazioviana is generally a biennial herb producing an erect stem approaching 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in maximum height. It is roughly hairy in texture, the hairs with reddish blistering or glandular bases. The crinkly leaves are up to 15 centimeters long.

The inflorescence is a showy spike of many large flowers. When in bud the long red sepals are visible. When in bloom each flower has four bright yellow petals up to 5 centimeters long which fade orange to red with age. The fruit is a lance-shaped capsule 2 or 3 centimeters long.

Taxonomy

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Oenothera glazioviana was first described by Marc Micheli in 1875.[3] Originally native to Brazil, it has become naturalized in many countries, and has acquired a large number of synonyms.[4]

Oenothera lamarckiana

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About a century ago, it was believed that there was a different species, either native to some obscure and unknown place in North America, from which it had quickly spread across the world, or more likely a new species which had very recently evolved in the last few decades, possibly in Europe from a hybrid of two other species, and thence had become a common weed. These theories stemmed from the fact that although the species was now a common species, and while an obviously striking species unlikely to be overlooked by botanists, it had only been recorded in recent times, and never in a truly wild state. At the time this taxon was important for the brand new study of genetics, the debate about the cause of evolution, whether that was natural selection or one of the alternatives such as mutationism, and particularly to the discovery of polyploidy.[5][6][7][8] It was later discovered that it had, in fact, already been discovered and described by a botanist in Brazil only a few decades beforehand, in 1875, as Oenothera glazioviana, and had likely spread across the world from there since then, but this had apparently somehow been overlooked.[9]

Distribution

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Oenothera glazioviana is native to Brazil.[4] It is cultivated as an ornamental plant,[10] and has become naturalized in many countries around the world,[4] like Britain and Ireland, where it is the most common species of its genus.[11]

Ecology

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Under the synonym Oenothera lamarckiana, it is described as a very adaptable plant: however it needs full sun, average moisture, and well-drained soils. It is easily grown from seed.[12] It began being grown in European gardens during the 1800s. [13]

References

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  1. ^ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. ^ NRCS. "Oenothera glazioviana". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  3. ^ "Oenothera glazioviana Micheli". The International Plant Names Index. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  4. ^ a b c "Oenothera glazioviana Micheli". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  5. ^ de Vries, Hugo (January 1918). "Mutations of Oenothera suaveolens Desf" (PDF). Genetics. 3 (1): 1–26. doi:10.1093/genetics/3.1.1. PMC 1199547. PMID 17245896.
  6. ^ de Vries, Hugo (January 1919). "Oenothera rubrinervis; A Half Mutant". Botanical Gazette. 67 (1): 1–26. doi:10.1086/332396. JSTOR 2468868. S2CID 83752035.
  7. ^ Darlington, C. D. (1931), "Meiosis", Biological Reviews, 6 (3): 221–264, doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.1931.tb01027.x, S2CID 221528298
  8. ^ Cleland R. E. (1962): The cytogenetics of Oenothera. Advance. Genet 11: 147.
  9. ^ "Oenothera glazioviana Micheli". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Oenothera glazioviana", Plants, Royal Horticultural Society, retrieved 2021-08-22
  11. ^ "Oenothera glazioviana", Systematic Botany Monographs, 50, Biological Records Centre: 1–234, 1997, retrieved 2021-08-22
  12. ^ "Evening Primrose Seeds - American Meadows".
  13. ^ Endersby, Jim (2007). A Guinea Pig's History of Biology. London: Harvard University Press. p. 130. ISBN 9780674027138.

Further reading

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