Single Record

Participant Info

Species
Oenothera albicaulis [Anogra albicaulis] [Oenothera ctenophylla]
Family
Onagraceae
CommonName
whitestem evening primrose
Presence
Yes
Status
native
EarliestDate
1912
LatestDate
2017
Ecosystem
basin, foothill, ruderal, sanddunes
Geobotanical
SSawatch, SSanjuans, Culebras, NCristos, UBasin
Counties
Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Rio Grande, Saguache
Passes
WildlifePreserves
Dry Creek, Great Sand Dunes, Hot Creek, San Luis Lakes
Other Localities
La Botica
Comments
On both sides of the Valley, white-stemmed evening primrose prefers sandy soil and open terrain. Occasionally it takes advantage of disturbed ground, for instance beside gravel roads. The one Basin location (2014, 2017) is from the low, stabilized sand dunes of Mosca campground north of Alamosa, close to the shore of San Luis Lake. It is a Rocky Mountains and desert Southwest plant that follows the Rio Grande drainage one county past the Big Bend of Texas. Note that in the Watershed, O. albicaulis can be mistaken for O. pallida subsp. trichocalyx. The surest way to distinguish them is by their capsules (seedpods). That of O. albicaulis is less hairy and four-angled in cross section. That of O. pallida subsp. trichocalyx is covered with long hairs and round in cross section. Incidentally, the voucher determined as "Oenothera engelmannii" by S. Stecher from near San Luis Lake (1988, Alamosa Co) is probably O. albicaulis.