plant of the month

WHAT PLANT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER?

Evening Primrose (Oenothera speciosa)

By Kent Ferguson

Evening Primrose is a perennial, warm-season forb commonly found on grazing lands throughout the country. It can be found in almost all soil types growing in open pastures, prairies, abandoned cropland and roadsides.

Evening Primrose is also known by several other names including Showy Evening Primrose, Buttercup, Pink Evening Primrose, Pinkladies and Amapola del Campo.

This plant: • Grows low to the ground, reaching a maximum height of one-and-a-half feet. • Spreads by seeds and rhizomes, forming large colonies popular in the spring and summer to wildflower enthusiasts. • Has alternate, oblong-lanceolate leaves reaching three-and-a-half inches long and one inch wide, with toothed or cleft margins. Has solitary flowers with four petals that are white to pink and form a cup shape between two and three-and-a-half inches across. Has fruit from the flowers forming a capsule with ribs along the pod, which contain small, pink seeds.

Evening Primrose is very palatable, and consumed by many domestic and wild species. It is known to have crude protein content up to 15% in late spring and early summer, and is beneficial for the diet of grazing animals. It is also gaining popularity in the landscaping business and is commonly used as an accent plant. T C

Kent Ferguson, a retired rangeland management specialist from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, provides plant identification photo stories to help ranchers identify those forbs, forages and species growing in pastures.