"Sean Houtman" wrote in message
...
"mel turner" wrote in news:fi4oc0$4ap$1
@gargoyle.oit.duke.edu:

"Richard Wright" wrote in message
...
This flower is coming up in early summer in a warm temperate garden.

http://www.box.net/shared/static/gdzf2ncm01.jpg

Can anybody give me a lead to its ID? I can't even begin to recognise
the family.

The family is Onagraceae, I'm reasonably sure.
Might it be a low-growing Oenothera species?
The flower in the photo appears abnormal or "semi-double",
with a few extra petallike organs.

After googling for images, this one looks fairly close:
http://www.robsplants.com/plants/OenotKunth.php

I agree with Onagraceae, but not Oenothera, the hypanthium is shorter than
most of the other white or pink Oenotheras. I suspect that it might be a
hybrid between an Epilobium and an Oenothera, or perhaps Clarkia. Since we
don't know where the warm temperate garden is, we may never become sure.

Thanks for the suggestion. How about _Clarkia amoena_, aka "Godetia"?
It's widely cultivated, apparently includes numerous horticultural
forms of various colors, and also includes double-flowered cultivars,
which may explain the irregularity of the flower in the photo:

http://images.google.com/images?q=godetia
http://images.google.com/images?svnu...rkia+amoena%22
http://www.google.com/search?q=godetia
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22clarkia+amoena%22

cheers