Oenothera albicaulis Pursh var. runcinata Engelmann, Amer. J. Sci. Arts, ser. 2, 34: 334. 1862; Anogra gypsophila (Eastwood) A. Heller; A. leucotricha Wooton & Standley; A. pallida (Lindley) Britton var. runcinata (Engelmann) Small; A. runcinata (Engelmann) Wooton & Standley; O. albicaulis var. brevifolia Engelmann; O. albicaulis var. gypsophila Eastwood; O. pallida subsp. gypsophila (Eastwood) Munz & W. M. Klein; O. pallida var. runcinata (Engelmann) Cronquist; O. runcinata (Engelmann) Munz; O. runcinata var. brevifolia (Engelmann) Munz; O. runcinata var. gypsophila (Eastwood) Munz; O. runcinata var. leucotricha (Wooton & Standley) Munz; O. wislizeni H. Léveillé

Herbs perennial, strigillose, sometimes also sparsely villous, or glabrous; from a taproot, lateral roots producing adventitious shoots. Stems usually branched throughout. Leaves: rosette not present at anthesis, 2–3.5(–5) × 0.4–1(–1.5) cm; blade oblong to narrowly lanceolate, margins usually deeply sinuate-dentate to pinnatifid, rarely dentate only. Flowers: buds with free tips 0–0.2 mm; floral tube 15–30 mm; sepals 10–25 mm; petals 10–30 mm. Capsules spreading to reflexed, straight or curved, sometimes contorted. 2n = 14.

Flowering (Apr–)May–Sep. Sandy soil, dunes, disturbed areas, alkaline soil, pinyon-juniper woodlands, shrublands with Artemisia, Ericameria, or Prosopis, open ponderosa pine woodlands; 1100–2400 m; Ariz., Colo., N.Mex., Tex., Utah; Mexico (Chihuahua).

Subspecies runcinata replaces subsp. pallida in the southern part of the species range. In New Mexico, it is most morphologically diverse, with plants with sub­entire leaves densely strigillose recognized in the past as subsp. gypsophila. The distribution and characteristics of these plants should be studied more in relation to other types of populations included in subsp. runcinata. Glabrous plants in the southern portion of the range of subsp. runcinata, especially in New Mexico, adjacent Texas, and Chihuahua, Mexico, have been recognized as var. brevifolia.