|
Photographer: Janice Stiefel
|
Family Onagraceae
Oenothera biennis L.
bastard evening-primrose, common evening-primrose
Oenothera: from Greek oinos, "wine," and thera, "to imbibe," because an allied European plant was thought to induce a taste for wine
biennis: biennial, completing the life cycle in two growing seasons, usually blooming and fruiting in the second
|
|
| Status: | Native |
| Plant: | erect, biennial/perennial, 2'-6' tall forb, mostly smooth |
| Flower: | yellow, 4-parted, 3/4"-2" wide; inflorescence a stiff, terminal, usually unbranched spike; blooms July-Oct. |
| Fruit: | capsule thickest near the base, seeds without tufts of hair at the top |
| Leaf: | lance-like to oblong, alternate |
| Habitat: | dry to moderate moisture; disturbed sites, prairies |
| Notes: | very similar to O. villosa and its subspecies, O. parviflora and O. oakesiana |
| (Glossary) |
|
