Oenothera laciniata Hill

Cutleaf Evening Primrose

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Cutleaf Evening Primrose is a native herbaceous annual in the Evening-Primrose family (Onagraceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Cutleaf Evening Primrose occurs on roadsides, along railroads, in prairies, in fields, and in disturbed areas. It is an annual with a tap root. The stems are 1-2 feet in length, erect or sprawling, green or reddish in color, and pubescent. The stems often branch from near the base. The leaves are alternate, sessile or short petiolate, oblanceolate to elliptic in outline, pubescent, with entire, lobed, or pinnately cleft margins. Flowers are solitary from the axils of the upper leaves. The flowers open at night and wither in the heat of the day. The calyx (hypanthium above the ovary) is long and cylindrical with 4 narrow recurved lobes. Each flower has 4 heart-shaped yellow petals (often fading to orange or pinkish), 8 stamens, and a cross-shaped stigma. The fruit is a pubescent cylindrical capsule. Cutleaf Evening Primrose is pollinated by Sphinx Moths and the foliage is eaten by deer and rabbits. Cutleaf Evening Primrose has been introduced in many areas worldwide and is considered an invasive species in Central and South America, Europe, Africa and Australia.—A. Diamond

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Native FACU (NWPL)

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