Oenothera flava ssp. taraxacoides (Yellow evening primrose)

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Oenothera flava (A. Nelson) Garrett ssp. taraxacoides (Wooton & Standl.) W.L. Wagner

Yellow evening primrose, Mexican evening primrose

This is the “dandelion subspecies” of yellow evening primose, so-called for the resemblance of its foliage to dandelion leaves.

Plants: Plants and flowers together are 12–24″ (30–60 cm) tall.

Leaves: Plants have a rosette of basal leaves reminiscent of dandelion leaves. Each leaf is up to 6″ (15 cm) long, with hairy margins.

Flowers: Flowers emerge directly from the base on red stems. Flowers are pink (yellow? sources differ), about 1–1½″ (2.5–3.8 cm) around, with four petals, eight stamens, and a long tubular calyx that splits into four lobes.

Fruits: Over 1/16″ (2.5 mm) long.

Habitats: Damp, prairie swales; open, wooded areas; stream valleys.

Online References:

The USDA Plants Database

SEINet—the Southwest Environmental Information Network (Oenothera flava)

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (Oenothera flava)

Wildflowers, Ferns & Trees of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah (Oenothera flava subspecies flava)

Lavauxia taraxacoides Wooton & Standl.
Oenothera taraxacoides (Wooton & Standl.) Munz

5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 1½ × 1′ (52 × 34 cm)

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin)
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Rosidae	Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more
Order	Myrtales	Includes myrtles, leadwoods, loosestrifes, pomegranates, evening primroses, many others
Family	Onagraceae	Willowherb/evening primrose family
Genus	Oenothera	Derivation uncertain: 1. Greek ονος θηρας (onos theras), or “donkey catcher.” 2. Or οινος θηρας (oinos theras), “wine seeker.” 3. Or Latin oenothera, “a plant whose juices may cause sleep”
Species	flava	Latin for “yellow”
ssp.	taraxacoides	Means “like a dandelion”

About plant names...

Range:

About this map...

Oenothera flava ssp. taraxacoides description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.