Plant Name
Scientific Name: Oenothera caespitosa
Synonym: Oenothera cespitosa
Common Names: Tufted Evening Primrose, Fragrant Evening Primrose, Stemless Primrose, Cespitose Evening-primrose
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Subshrub, Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert (upper elevation), Upland, Mountain
Flower Color: White, Pink (when old and wilted)
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer, Fall (early)
Height: To 6 inches (15 cm) tall
Description: The showy, white flowers open late in the afternoon and then turn pink and wilt by the following morning. The flowers are up to 4 inches (10 cm) across and have 4 heart-shaped petals. The leaves are green, toothed or lobed, narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate in shape, up to 7 inches (18 cm) long or more, and clumped in a dense basal rosette.
Special Characteristics
Butterfly Plant – The flowers attract large hummingbird moths.
Fragrant – The flowers are nocturnal and lightly fragrant.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Myrtales
Family: Onagraceae – Evening Primrose family
Genus: Oenothera L. – evening primrose
Species: Oenothera caespitosa Nutt. – tufted evening primrose
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