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§1 Plant

Oenothera biennis L.

vernacular common evening primrose — species · Onagraceae

USDA
OEBI
GBIF
3188924
Rank
species
common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis)
Platephotograph · Tom PollardCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Biennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Onagraceae Juss.
Genus
Oenothera
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 1,415 counties across 45 states/territories
Legend Native · 1415 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Low
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-28 °F minimum
Frost-free days
120 min.
Precipitation
20–55 in/yr
pH range
5–7
Root depth
10 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Crown
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
5 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
1,376,000
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Contracting Only
Nursery stock
No
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1,415 counties across 45 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 11 N ▾
Arkansas view state ↗ 3 N ▾
California view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Colorado view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 2 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Florida view state ↗ 29 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 41 N ▾
Idaho view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 102 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 65 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 23 N ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 64 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 74 N ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 48 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 16 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 48 N ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 61 N ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 37 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 67 N ▾
Montana view state ↗ 17 N ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 37 N ▾
Nevada view state ↗ 1 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 10 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 20 N ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 8 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 35 N ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 71 N ▾
North Dakota view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 79 N ▾
Oklahoma view state ↗ 12 N ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 11 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 58 N ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 27 N ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 18 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 48 N ▾
Texas view state ↗ 6 N ▾
Utah view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 12 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 100 N ▾
Washington view state ↗ 10 N ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 49 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 68 N ▾
Wyoming view state ↗ 2 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/OEBI ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3188924 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z