Common eveningprimrose – Oenothera biennis
Oenothera biennis L.
Onagraceae (Eveningprimrose family)
MI Status
Native
Life cycle
Usually an erect biennial or winter annual. Occasionally a summer annual.
Leaves
Alternate, narrow oval-shaped, smooth to slightly wavy leaf margins, with distinctive pink to white midveins. Leaves initially develop from a basal rosette.
Stems
Erect, semiwoody, approaching 5 feet in height. Stem usually branches only at the top and may be visible through the winter.
Flowers and fruit
Flowers are yellow, attached to fused sepals forming a tube and found in terminal spikes. Seed capsules are woody, cylinder-shaped and thickest near the bottom.
Reproduction
Seeds.
Similar weeds
Cutleaf eveningprimrose (O. laciniata Hill)
Differs by having a prostrate to moderately erect, branching stem; wavy and coarsely toothed leaves; yellow to reddish flowers in the upper and middle leaf axils; and linear, cylinder-shaped seed capsules.
![Eveningprimrose flower](/pestid/uploads/images/Eveningprimrose-flower-300x239.jpg)
![Eveningprimrose plant](/pestid/uploads/images/Eveningprimrose-plant-300x225.jpg)
![Eveningprimrose rosette](/pestid/uploads/images/Eveningprimrose-rosette-300x200.jpg)
Other Documents in this Series
You Might Also Be Interested In
-
MSU named Top 10 agriculture and forestry college in new report
Published on March 23, 2021
-
MSU recognized as global leader in environmental antimicrobial resistance research
Published on March 17, 2021
-
MSU research team receives USDA grant to evaluate effectiveness, cost of new blueberry pest management strategies
Published on February 19, 2021
Accessibility Questions:
For questions about accessibility and/or if you need additional accommodations for a specific document, please send an email to ANR Communications & Marketing at anrcommunications@anr.msu.edu.