Onagraceae
Oenothera

Oenothera biennis L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 346 (1753)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Canada to Central Mexico. It is a biennial and grows primarily in the temperate biome. It is has environmental uses, as a medicine and for food.

Descriptions

Ecology
Habitat according IUCN Habitats Classification: artificial - terrestrial.
Vernacular
Evening primrose, German rampion, Onagra
[UPFC]

Ghazanfar, S. A. & Edmondson, J. R (Eds). (2014) Flora of Iraq, Volume 5 Part 2: Lythraceae to Campanulaceae.

Note
Common (UK) or European (Am.) Evening Primrose (Eng.) Though really biennial, these graceful erect herbs flower freely during their first summer, producing a succession of large pale yellow flowers opening in the evening.
Ecology
The fragrantly-scented flowers of these plants are pollinated by nocturnal flying insects, such as hawkmoths (Sphingideae), for which they are well adapted. Although originally native of eastern temperate North America, they have been cultivated in Europe for some 350 years and are now widely naturalized there in such habitats as river banks, thickets and sandy places.
[FIQ]

Uses

Use Environmental
Environmental uses.
Use Food
Used for food.
Use Medicines
Medical uses.
[UPFC]

Use
Evening Primroses (Oenothera biennis and related species) are also occasionally cultivated in gardens at Baghdad. The root resembling a short red carrot is edible and has been a popular component of salads and soups, or boiled as a vegetable. Eaten as a “mezze”, or aperitif “hors d’oeuvres”, it enjoyed the reputation of a stimulant to wine-drinking, to which the Latin name of the genus Oenothera, derived from an ancient Greek name implying “wine-scenting”, is held to be an allusion.
[FIQ]

Sources

  • Flora of Iraq

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2023. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2022 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2023. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2022 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0