HAIRY EVENING PRIMROSE
File Size: 101 KB
 
Oenothera villosa  Thunb.
Riley County, Kansas
Biennial
Height: 1-6 feet
Family: Onagraceae - Evening Primrose Family
Flowering Period:   July, August, September,October
Stems: Erect, simple or much-branched above, densely appressed-hairy.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, sessile or short-stalked below, lanceolate, 3-6 inches long, .5-1.5 inches wide, grayish, appressed-hairy; margins wavy-toothed to nearly entire.
Inflorescences: Spikes, simple or branched, terminal.
Flowers: 1 to 1.5 inches wide, floral tubes .75 to 1.5 inches long; sepals 4, .5 to .75 inch long, bending abruptly backward, nearly glabrous or hairy; tips pointed; petals 4, obovate, 1/3 to 2/3 inch long, yellow, fading orange; tips slightly notched; stamens 8, nearly as long as petals; stigma with 4 linear lobes.
Fruits: Capsules, cylindric, .75 to 1.5 inches long, hairy; seeds small, egg-shaped, dark brown to black, often purple-spotted.
Habitat: Prairie hillsides, waste areas, roadsides, open woods, and stream and lake edges, in dry or damp soils.
Distribution: Throughout Kansas.
Origin: Hairy evening primrose was introduced to Europe in the early 17th century, where its taproot was used as a parsnip-like vegetable.
Uses: The Navajo mixed the dried leaves with tobacco and smoked it to bring good luck hunting.
Comments: Flowers open in the evening and usually wither the following day. Oenothera villosa is quite similar to Oeonothera biennis.

Hairy evening primrose stem and leaves
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Riley County, Kansas
Hairy evening primrose petals, stamens and stigma
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Riley County, Kansas
Hairy evening primrose flower
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Riley County, Kansas
Hairy evening primrose flower
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Riley County, Kansas
Hairy evening stem pubescence
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Riley County, Kansas
Hairy evening primrose flower
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Riley County, Kansas
Hairy evening stem pubescence
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Riley County, Kansas
Hairy evening habit
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Riley County, Kansas