Brown-eyed Evening Primrose
Camissonia claviformis
Photographed near Robbin's Butte in Maricopa Co., Arizona. Spring 2008.
ANNUAL: In the Sonoran Desert this plant developes a basal rosette of
leaves in early spring after adequate rains, then shoots up one or more
flowering stalks.
FLOWERS: Panicles of nodding flower buds. The buds open late in day to reveal
a four-petaled, white to yellow corolla, 8 stamens and a four-branched style. By mid morning at latest the flowers close up.
A hypanthium at center of flower is reddish-brown.
LEAVES: Leaves are at ground level, are pinnately divided/lobed and are
often reddish, esp. beneath.
RANGE: Fairly common throughout the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and Mexico
along washes and on rock slopes. Absent during drought years. Several named
subspecies and varieties.
FRUIT: Pod-like, erect fruit developes below the flower, i.e. an inferior
ovary. Capsules have four chambers with two rows of seeds in each.
UNARMED.