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evening primrose


n.

Any of various North American plants of the genus Oenothera, characteristically having four-petaled yellow flowers that open in the evening. Also called sundrops.


 
 
Food and Nutrition: evening primrose

Oenothera biennis, the oil from the seeds is a rich source of γ-linolenic acid, which may account for 8% of total fatty acids. It is used as a dietary supplement and may have beneficial effects in a number of conditions.

 

Any of various species of herbaceous plants of the genus Oenothera (family Onagraceae). They are noted for their showy flowers, especially the yellow-flowered biennial O. biennis, which is found widely throughout North America and and has been introduced to Europe. It has been grown by geneticists to determine certain principles of heredity. The true primrose belongs to the family Primulaceae.

For more information on evening primrose, visit Britannica.com.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: evening primrose,
common name for the Onagraceae, a family of plants of worldwide distribution, most species of which grow as herbs in the temperate New World, and specifically for members of the genus Oenothera. Species of Oenothera, Epilobium, and Godetia, among others, are native to America; some are cultivated. Evening primroses (species of Oenothera and some other similar species) range from North America to Patagonia. Most are yellow, evening-flowering annuals or biennials. The common evening primrose (O. biennis) is naturalized in the Old World, where the roots are sometimes used for food. The hybrid O. lamarckiana was used by Hugo de Vries in formulating his mutation theory of heredity. Godetia, abundant in California, includes farewell-to-spring, or summer's-darling (G. amoena). The branching, bushy great willow herb (E. angustifolium) is a widespread fireweed and a good bee plant. Most species of the genus Fuchsia are tropical American shrubs cultivated elsewhere as ornamentals for their pendulous, brilliant red to purple and white flowers. Most garden fuchsias are hybrids. The evening primrose family is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Myrtales.


 

Evening primrose family
Onagraceae

Ee-no-thee'ra or ee-noth'er-ra. The evening primroses and their day-blooming relatives, the sundrops. Eighty species of American herbs. Formerly included in Hartmannia .

Description
Leaves alternate, simple, with smooth edge. Flowers showy, prevailingly yellow, but also white or rose-color in some species, generally 1 or 2 in the leaf axils. Calyx tubular, usually 4-sided, its 4 lobes often bent backward and usually soon falling. Petals 4, mostly very broad.

How to Grow
To grow these perennials and biennials for first-year bloom, sow seeds outdoors in early spring. Or start seeds indoors 8-12 weeks before last frost. Where winters are mild, sowing outdoors in fall works well. Plant seeds or transplants in patches. All prefer warm weather.

Oenothera biennis
Evening Primrose . 3-6 ft. (0.9-1.8 m) high. Flowers night-blooming, yellow turning gold, 1-2 in. (2.5-5.0 cm) wide. North America and naturalized in Europe. The var. grandiflora, chiefly from the South, has larger flowers and is best for the garden. Biennial grown as a hardy annual.

Oenothera deltoides
Desert Evening Primrose . 2-10 in. (5-25 cm) high. Flowers night-blooming, 3 in. (7.5 cm) wide, white turning pink. Sw. deserts of U.S. Half-hardy annual.

Oenothera erythrosepala
Evening Primrose . 2-8 ft. (0.6-2.4 m) high. Flowers night-blooming, yellow turning orange or red, 3 Ɖ in. (9 cm) wide. Established in northern areas. Also sold as O. Lamarckiana . Hardy biennial grown as a hardy annual.

Oenothera laciniata
Evening Primrose . 6-24 in. (15-60 cm) high. Flowers night-blooming, yellow turning red, 2 Ɖ in. (6 cm) wide. Me. and S. Dak. to Tex. Perennial grown as a hardy annual.

Oenothera missourensis
Missouri Evening Primrose . Spreading branches to 15 in. (38 cm) long. Flowers night-blooming, yellow turning red, to 7 in. (17.5 cm) long and 5 in. (12.5 cm) wide. Cen. U.S. A garden favorite. Perennial grown as a hardy annual.

Oenothera primiveris
Evening Primrose . 6-9 in. (15.0-22.5 cm) high. Flowers night-blooming, yellow turning orange, 2-3 in. (5.0-7.5 cm) wide. Sw. deserts of U.S. Hardy annual.

Oenothera speciosa
Showy Evening Primrose . 1-2 ft. (30-60 cm) high. Flowers day-blooming, white turning pink, 3 in. (7.5 cm) wide. Cen. U.S. Sometimes sold as Hartmannia . Can become a weed. Perennial grown as a hardy annual.



 

The botanical name for evening primrose.

oenothera

 
Wikipedia: Oenothera
Oenothera
Oenothera erythrosepala
Oenothera erythrosepala
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Myrtales
Family: Onagraceae
Genus: Oenothera
L.
Species

About 125, including:
Oenothera acaulis
Oenothera albicaulis
Oenothera argillicola
Oenothera biennis
Oenothera brachycarpa
Oenothera caespitosa
Oenothera californica
Oenothera coronopifolia
Oenothera coryi
Oenothera deltoides
Oenothera drummondii
Oenothera elata
Oenothera erythrosepala
Oenothera flava
Oenothera fruticosa
Oenothera glazioviana
Oenothera hookeri
Oenothera jamesii
Oenothera kunthiana
Oenothera laciniata
Oenothera longissima
Oenothera macrocarpa
Oenothera missouriensis
Oenothera nuttallii
Oenothera odorata
Oenothera pallida
Oenothera perennis
Oenothera pilosella
Oenothera primiveris
Oenothera rhombipetala
Oenothera rosea
Oenothera speciosa
Oenothera stubbei
Oenothera taraxacoides
Oenothera tetraptera
Oenothera triloba

Oenothera is a genus of about 125 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbaceous flowering plants, native to North and South America. It is the type genus of the family Onagraceae. Common names include evening primrose, suncups, and sundrops.

The species vary in size from small alpine plants 10 cm tall (e.g. O. acaulis from Chile), to vigorous lowland species growing to 3 m (e.g. O. stubbei from Mexico). The leaves form a basal rosette at ground level and spiral up to the flowering stems; the leaves are dentate or deeply lobed (pinnatifid). The flowers open in the evening, hence the name "evening primrose", and are yellow in most species but white, purple, pink or red in a few; there are four petals. One of the most distinctive features of the flower is the stigma with four branches, forming an X shape.[1] Pollination is by Lepidoptera (moths) and bees; like many members of the Onagraceae, however, the pollen grains are loosely held together by viscin threads (see photo below), meaning that only bees that are morphologically specialized to gather this pollen can effectively pollinate the flowers (it cannot be held effectively in a typical bee scopa). Furthermore, the flowers are open at a time when most bee species are inactive, so the bees which visit Oenothera are also compelled to be vespertine temporal specialists. The seeds ripen from late summer to fall.

Oenothera species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Schinia felicitata and Schinia florida, both of which feed exclusively on the genus, the former exclusively on O. deltoides.

In the wild, evening primroses acts as primary colonizers, springing up wherever a patch of bare, undisturbed ground may be found. This means that they tend to be found in poorer environments such as dunes, roadsides, railway embankments and wasteland. It often occurs as a casual, eventually being out-competed by other species.

An evening primrose cultivated in England
Enlarge
An evening primrose cultivated in England

The genus Oenothera may have originated in Mexico and Central America. During the Pleistocene era a succession of ice ages swept down across North America, with intervening warm periods. This was repeated for four ice ages, with four separate waves of colonization, each hybridizing with the remnants of the previous waves. This generated a present-day population that is very rich in genetic diversity, spread right across the North American continent.

It was originally assigned to the genus Onagra, which gave the family Onagraceae its name. Onagra (meaning "(food of) onager") was first used in botany in 1587, and in English in Philip Miller's 1754 Gardeners Dictionary: Abridged. Its modern name Oenothera was published by Carolus Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae. William Baird suggests that since oeno means "wine" in Greek it refers to the fact that the root of the edible Oenothera biennis was used as a wine flavor additive.[citation needed]

An evening primrose flower, showing the cross-shaped stigma
Enlarge
An evening primrose flower, showing the cross-shaped stigma

Cultivation and uses

Young roots can be eaten like a vegetable (with a peppery flavour), or the shoots can be eaten as a salad. The whole plant was used to prepare an infusion with astringent and sedative properties. It was considered to be effective in healing asthmatic coughs, gastro-intestinal disorders, whooping cough and as a sedative pain-killer. Poultices containing O. biennis were at one time used to ease bruises and speed wound healing. One of the common names for Oenothera, "Kings cureall", reflects the wide range of healing powers ascribed to this plant, although it should be noted that its efficacy for these purposes has not been demonstrated in clinical trials.

The mature seeds contain approximately 7-10% gamma-linolenic acid, a rare essential fatty acid. The O. biennis seed oil is used to reduce the pains of premenstrual stress syndrome. Gamma-linolenic acid also shows promise against breast cancer.[2]

Evening Primroses are very popular ornamental plants in gardens. For propagation, the seeds can be sown in situ from late spring to early summer. The plant will grow successfully in fertile soils if competing species are kept at bay. Evening primrose species can be planted in any ordinary, dry, well-drained garden soil (preferly sandy loam) in an open site that is sunny to partly shady. They are fairly drought-resistant.

The first plants to arrive in Europe reached Padua from Virginia in 1614 and were described by the English botanist John Goodyer in 1621. Some species are now also naturalized in parts of Europe and Asia, and can be grown as far north as 65° N in Finland. The UK National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens, based at Wisley, maintains an Oenothera collection as part of its National Collections scheme.

References

  1. ^ Roger Tory Peterson and Margaret McKenny (1968). A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North-central North America. ISBN 0-395-91172-9. 
  2. ^ Plant oil 'acts like cancer drug' (2005-11-02). (describing work by Dr Javier Menendez and colleagues at Northwestern University and published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute).

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food and Nutrition. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Annuals Dictionary. Taylor's Guide for Annuals, by Norman Taylor, revised and edited by Gordon P. DeWolf, Jr. Copyright © 1986 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Gardener's Dictionary. Taylor's Dictionary for Gardeners, by Frances Tenenbaum. Copyright © 1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Oenothera" Read more

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