Large-flowered Evening Primrose

(Oenothera macrocarpa)

 

   

 

 

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

 

Large-flowered Evening Primrose (Oenothera macrocarpa Nutt.)

Identification: Flowers yellow, very large (3 to 6 inches in diameter), with 4 petals and 8 stamens. Stigma with 4 lobes, cross-shaped. Calyx with 4 elongate sepals, the sepals bent downward (reflexed). Flower tube very long (3 to 6 inches in length). Seed capsules ovate, with 4 wings, sessile to the stem in the leaf axils. Stem naked. Leaves elongate, narrow, with smooth outer margins. Plant 6 to 12 inches in height.

Distribution: Missouri and Kansas to Texas.

Habitat: Large-flowered Evening Primrose is found on a variety of dry soils in the southern Great Plains.

Flowering period: May to July.

Similar Species: The flowers of Large-flowered Evening Primrose are very large (up to 6 inches in diameter and highly distinctive if you can catch them before they fade during the daytime.

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