Oenothera deltoides

Oenothera deltoides is a species of evening primrose known by several common names, including birdcage evening primrose, basket evening primrose, lion in a cage, and devil's lantern. It is native to the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in sandy habitats from desert to beach.

Oenothera deltoides
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Onagraceae
Genus: Oenothera
Species:
O. deltoides
Binomial name
Oenothera deltoides

The plant is grayish with basal, deltoid leaves. The large white flowers turn pinkish as they mature. When the plants die, the stems curl upward and form the "birdcage" for which the common name is derived.

There are five subspecies. One of these, the Antioch Dunes Evening Primrose (ssp. howellii), is a federally listed endangered species known from a few sandy spots in the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge just inland from the San Francisco Bay Area in California.[1]

Oenothera caespitosa is very similar, but lacks stems and has slightly larger flowers.[2]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oenothera deltoides.
  1. Center for Plant Conservation: Oenothera deltoides ssp. howellii
  2. Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 46. ISBN 0-87842-280-3. OCLC 25708726.
  • Roadside plants of Southern California. Thomas J. Belzer. Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1984.


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