Evening Primrose Oenothera biennis

LATIN NAME: Oenothera biennis

COMMON NAME: Evening Primrose

The evening primrose opens its large, clear-yellow, cup-shaped flowers in the cool of the evening, and the softly hairy leaves fill the base of the tall stems. The upright, biennial plant carries the lance-shaped, softly hairy, pale-green leaves and the large, clear-yellow, four-petalled, cup-shaped flowers through the summer, one of the fine, bright sights of the evening garden, each flower opening in the cool of the evening and closing by the noon of the next day, drawing the moths. The plant has a long record in the old practice and the oil presses of the cool lands, and it is a fine, historic presence of the evening garden. It is a plant of the open, sunny, deep, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The evening primrose is a historic subject of the plant science, and the evening cups keep showing up in the work on the evening flowers. The way the large, clear-yellow, four-petalled, cup-shaped flowers open in the cool of the evening has been examined closely, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the evening flowers, the moth-pollinated plants and the members of the evening-primrose family. The softly hairy leaves and the upright, biennial habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the evening primrose is a regular subject of the work on the evening cups of the warm world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The evening primrose is a fine, bright plant of the evening garden and the study collection. The large, clear-yellow, four-petalled, cup-shaped flowers open in the cool of the evening, one of the fine, bright sights of the evening garden, drawing the moths, each flower closing by the noon of the next day, and the plant has a long record in the old practice and the oil presses of the cool lands. It is one of the fine choices for the evening garden, the wild patch and the study collection, and it has been written about in the botanical and the horticultural papers for the evening cups and the long record of use. It is a fine, bright plant of the open, sunny, deep, well-drained garden.

Sow in the early summer for the second-season cups, and the flowers will open in the cool evenings.

To grow the evening primrose from seed, sow the small, brown seeds across the surface of the tray, without covering them, keep the tray in a bright, open spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the open ground. The seedlings show themselves within a couple of weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun and the deep, well-drained ground, the evening cups will open through the summer.

Oil in seeds contains gammalinolenic acid (GLA), a precursor of prostaglandin E1. The latter is very active biologically regulating such functions as the vessel and immune systems. By supplementing the diet with GLA, one can bypass a blockage of prostaglandin E1 production caused by aging, poor diet, or alcoholism. Chronic complaints such as PMS disappear. Roots can be eaten as a vegetable; shoots as a salad. – EP10 Has high GLA content. Seeds are less prone to shatter before harvest.