Cut-leaved Evening Primrose

(Oenothera laciniata)

 

   

 

 

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Cut-leaved Evening Primrose (Oenothera laciniata Hill)

Identification: Flowers yellow, large (up to 2 inches in diameter), with 4 petals and 8 stamens. Stigma with 4 lobes, cross-shaped. Calyx with 4 sepals, the sepals bent downward (reflexed). Seed capsules narrow, elongate, sessile to the stem in the leaf axils. Stem simple or branched, usually hairy. Leaves narrow, elongate, heavily lobed (dandelionlike) on the outer margin. Plant 4 inches to 2.5 feet in height.

Distribution: Throughout eastern and central North America. Also occurs in California.

Habitat: Cut-leaved Evening Primrose is typically found on dry, sandy soil.

Flowering period: May to June.

Similar Species: The evening primrose flowers and the dandelion style leaves are distinctive.

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