Oenothera cruciformis Kellogg, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 227, fig. 71. 1863; Camissonia claviformis (Torrey & Frémont) P. H. Raven subsp. cruciformis (Kellogg) P. H. Raven; C. claviformis var. cruciformis (Kellogg) Cronquist; Chylisma cruciformis (Kellogg) Howell; C. scapoidea (Torrey &A. Gray) Nuttall ex Raimann var. cruciformis (Kellogg) Small; O. claviformis Torrey & Frémont subsp. citrina P. H. Raven; O. claviformis subsp. cruciformis (Kellogg) P. H. Raven; O. claviformis var. cruciformis (Kellogg) Munz

Herbs strigillose or glandular puberulent proximally, glandular puberulent or glabrous distally. Stems 3–55 cm. Leaves: blade lateral lobes well developed, few to numerous, terminal lobe narrowly ovate to subcor­date, to 8 × to 4 cm, margins serrate-dentate. Flowers opening at sunrise; buds without free tips, sometimes with apical free tips less than 1 mm; floral tube yellow or orange-brown inside, 2–6.5 mm; petals bright yellow, some­times red-dotted in proximal 1/2, often fading purple, 2.5–8 mm. 2n = 14.

Flowering Mar–May. Sandy or clay flats and slopes, with Artemisia tridentata, Ericameria, Grayia spinosa, or Purshia tridentata; 600–1500 m; Calif., Idaho, Nev., Oreg.

Subspecies cruciformis is known from Lassen County, California, western Canyon and Owyhee counties, Idaho, Harney, Lake, and Malheur counties, Oregon, and central and southern Washoe County, Nevada. It intergrades with subsp. integrior.