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Oenothera pallida (Evening
Primrose) Onagraceae (Evening Primrose Family) Semi-desert,
foothills. Disturbed areas, openings, sand. Spring, summer. Oenothera pallida often covers extensive open areas with its long red arching stems, large white flowers, and pink dried flowers. Notice that although most stems are red (and somewhat fleshy) there are white woody stems at the base of several plants. Also see the woody stems in the next photograph. |
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Oenothera pallida
(Evening Primrose) Onagraceae (Evening Primrose Family) Semi-desert, foothills. Shrublands, openings.
Spring, summer. Although Oenothera pallida is most commonly fleshy, as in the above photograph, it can be woody and shrub-like as these photographs indicate. This plant is about two feet across and over a foot tall.
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Oenothera pallida (Evening
Primrose) Onagraceae (Evening Primrose Family) Semi-desert,
foothills. Disturbed areas, openings, sand. Spring, summer. This photograph shows two lines of new plants just arising from the spreading roots of a nearby plant. Such plants are said to be "rhizomatous", i.e., arising from horizontal underground root-like structures that sprout new plants from their nodes. |
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Oenothera pallida
(Evening Primrose) Onagraceae (Evening Primrose Family) Semi-desert, foothills. Shrublands, openings.
Spring, summer. In the lower left corner a seed capsule matures, just above it a bud is ready to open, and the flower has just opened. The yellow/green anther sacks of the flower stand high above the four yellow/green style legs, one of which can be clearly seen at the seven o'clock position, looking like an octopus leg.
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Oenothera pallida
(Evening Primrose) Onagraceae (Evening Primrose Family) Semi-desert, foothills. Shrublands, openings.
Spring, summer. Lovely flowers eventually give way to minute seeds; each seed is about 1.5 millimeters long. The seeds shown here are immature and will dry and darken with age and often gain spots. |
