Oenothera elata

Oenothera elata
ssp. hookeri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Onagraceae
Genus: Oenothera
Species: O. elata
Binomial name
Oenothera elata
Kunth
Oenothera elata: basal & stem leaves, reddish stems, large yellow flowers, & drying orange-red flowers

Oenothera elata is a species of Oenothera known by the common name Hooker's evening primrose or tall evening primrose. Subspecies include hookeri, hirsutissima, longisima, jamesii, villosa and elata.[1] It is native to much of western and central North America. The plants are quite tall, especially the hookeri subspecies, native to California, which can reach about 1.8 meters (6 feet) height.[2] The plants are found along roadsides, in moist meadows, or woodland, from sea level up to 9,000 ft (2,700 m) in elevation.[3]

Description

The stout, usually reddish stem has many long, narrow leaves, above a basal rosette. At its top is a large, open cluster of 2- to 4-inch wide yellow flowers with 4 large petals and protruding yellow stamens and 4-branched pistil, often covered in sticky pollen. The fragrant flowers open at dusk and wilt the next morning, turning orange or red.[3]

Uses

The Zuni people apply a poultice of the powdered flower of the hookeri subspecies and saliva at night to swellings.[4]

References

  1. Oenothera elata on the United States Department of Agriculture
  2. "Botanica. The Illustrated AZ of over 10000 garden plants and how to cultivate them", p. 612. Könemann, 2004. ISBN 3-8331-1253-0
  3. 1 2 Laird R. Blackwell (2002). Wildflowers of the Eastern Sierra and Adjoining Mojave Desert and Great Basin. Lone Pine Publishing. ISBN 978-1-55105-281-6.
  4. Camazine, Scott; Bye, Robert A. (1980). "A Study Of The Medical Ethnobotany Of The Zuni Indians of New Mexico". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2: 365–388 [377]. doi:10.1016/s0378-8741(80)81017-8.

Further reading

Raven, Peter; Dietrich, Werner; Stubbe, Wilfried (Autumn 1979). "An Outline of the Systematics of Oenothera Subsect. Euoenothera (Onagraceae)". Systematic Botany. 4 (3): 242–252. doi:10.2307/2418422. JSTOR 2418422. 

Dietrich, Werner; L. Wagner, Warren (1987). "A New Combination and New Subspecies in Oenothera Elata Kunth (Onagraceae)". Missouri Botanical Garden Press. 74 (1): 151–152. doi:10.2307/2399273. JSTOR 2399273. 


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