Common Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)
Ecologically, common evening primrose earns it keep by supporting a wide range of pollinators across the day-night spectrum. While its luminous yellow flowers open in the evening and attract nocturnal visitors like moths, they also remain accessible to daytime and twilight pollinators, including native bees such as Lasioglossum species. This biennial not only provides extended nectar availability from summer into fall, but also feeds and shelters dozens of herbivorous insects, contributing to food webs that support birds and predatory arthropods. Its deep taproot improves soil structure, and its genetic diversity influences local insect communities, making it a keystone species in early successional habitats and prairie restorations.
Common evening primrose is a native biennial and sometimes short-termed perennial under some conditions. It grows three to five feet tall, variously hairy stems and leaves. The 3/4 to two-inch, yellow flowers form in small clusters at the top of the stem and upper leaf axils. Its alternating leaves are four to 12 inches long, hairy and lance shaped. It thrives in full sun to partial shade and medium-moisture, well-drained soils. Found in fields, dunes, beaches, roadsides, and other disturbed habitats, it plays a key role in early successional ecosystems. (SF)