Index / Search / Oenothera caespitosa

§1 Plant

Oenothera caespitosa Nutt.

vernacular tufted evening primrose — species · Onagraceae

USDA: OECA10
GBIF: 7223887 syn.
Rank: species

tufted evening primrose (Oenothera caespitosa) — Platephotograph · Tony FratesCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Forb/herb, Subshrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Onagraceae Juss.
Genus: Oenothera

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 266 counties across 14 states/territories

Legend Native · 266 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: High
Moisture use: Low
Fire: Medium
Salinity: Medium
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: Medium

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -13 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 140 min.
Precipitation: 7–69 in/yr
pH range: 6.5–8
Root depth: 6 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Crown
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 0.5 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Porous
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: White
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: Rapid
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 1,300,000
Propagation: seed, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Contracting Only
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Medium
Graze palatability: Medium
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Medium
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 266 counties across 14 states/territories.

Arizona view state ↗ 14 N ▾

California view state ↗ 8 N ▾

Colorado view state ↗ 40 N ▾

Idaho view state ↗ 29 N ▾

Montana view state ↗ 34 N ▾

Nebraska view state ↗ 4 N ▾

Nevada view state ↗ 17 N ▾

New Mexico view state ↗ 24 N ▾

North Dakota view state ↗ 18 N ▾

Oregon view state ↗ 12 N ▾

South Dakota view state ↗ 11 N ▾

Utah view state ↗ 28 N ▾

Washington view state ↗ 7 N ▾

Wyoming view state ↗ 20 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/OECA10 ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/7223887 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

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