Onagraceae

Evening Primrose Family

Lavender Sundrops

FAMILY: Evening primrose family (Onagraceae) – Calylophus genus or subsection. Parts of this genus or subsection may be integrated with other genera, so the species described here may also be placed in the Oenothera genus. Scientists are not always in agreement about names.

SPECIES: Lavender or lavenderleaf sundrops (Calylophus lavandulifolius (Torr. & A. Gray) P. H. Raven = Oenothera lavandulifolia Torr. & A. Gray = Galpinsia lavandulaefolia Small).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Lavender sundrops is a fairly common perennial found in the central and southwestern United States. Apache Indian children occasionally cooked and ate the young seedpods, but the young seedpods were not an important food item. Regardless of how the young seedpods are prepared, the flavor is bitter and the texture is tough. Apparently, they were not meant to be chewed, but some vegetable-like material is buried in the apple-core-like debris. Young seedpods of evening primroses share the same fate. Salads are probably best without lavender sundrops. Simmering the seedpods produces a reasonably good broth thanks to a vegetable-like aspect that overpowers the bitterness. Overall, young seedpods of lavender sundrops are of minor importance to foragers, but every potential source of food is worth knowing. 

NOTES: The lavender sundrops I gathered were primarily from the Huachuca Mountains in southern Arizona. In a 1936 ethnobotanical work about the Apache Indians, Edward Castetter wrote, “Children occasionally gathered the pods of the evening primrose, Galpinsia lavandulaefolia, cooked, and ate them, but they were not an important article of food.” This is the same species that I described above, even though the scientific names differ. The seedpods were rather unimpressive in taste or texture, but I wouldn’t hesitate to eat them when hunger strikes and better options are unavailable.

IDENTIFICATION: The evening primrose family has been a challenge for botanists, and they don’t always agree on how to organize everything. Some botanists recognize Calylophus as a genus, while others considered it to be a subsection of the Oenothera genus. The species described here differs from Oenothera by having mushroom-like stigmas rather than x-like stigmas.

Description of lavender sundrops (Calylophus lavandulifolius): FORM upright, hairy, perennial plant about 4-22 cm tall from a taproot and branched caudex; STEMS numerous from the base and unbranched above; LEAVES simple; alternate; blades linear, narrowly oblong or oblanceolate; tapering at the base; margins entire; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary inferior, showy, generally opening in the late afternoon or evening, and arranged individually in the upper leaf axils; hypanthiums greatly prolonged beyond the ovaries; sepals 4; petals 4, yellow, often fading to orange, red, or purple, rounded to diamond-shaped in outline, often ruffled at the tips, but not heart-shaped; stigmas mushroom-like (peltate); stamens 8; anthers attached to the filaments by midsections (versatile) rather than bases (basifixed/innate), thus the stamens appearing T-shaped; FRUITS capsules cylindrical to football-shaped (fusiform), rounded-4-sided in cross section, sessile, splitting 4 ways at maturity, and persistent; SEEDS numerous, smooth, arranged in 2 rows per chamber; HABITAT dry, open, sandy, or rocky places in deserts or mountains; central and southwestern United States; blooming February to October.

REFERENCES: Lavender sundrops (Calylophus lavandulifolius = Oenothera lavandulifolia): immature seedpods Castetter (1936 p. 45, cited as Galpinsia lavandulaefolia) and Ebeling (p. 845, cited as Oenothera lavandulaefolia).

Suncups and Brown Eyes

FAMILY: Evening primrose family (Onagraceae) – Chylismia genus or subsection.

SPECIES: #1 yellow suncups (Chylismia brevipes (A. Gray) Small = Camissonia brevipes (A. Gray) P. H. Raven = Oenothera brevipes A. Gray). #2 brown eyes (Chylismia claviformis (Torr. & Frém.) A. Heller = Camissonia claviformis (Torr. & Frém.) P. H. Raven = Oenothera claviformis Torr. & Frém.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Seeds of yellow suncups (C. brevipes) and leaves of brown eyes (C. claviformis) are edible. Despite the potential value of these wild plants, for some reason, their use as food among Native Americans appears to be infrequent, or at least the documentation of that use is infrequent.

Yellow suncups (C. brevipes) produce extraordinary little seeds. These seeds are a forager’s dream come true and rank among the top 10 best wild foods of the lower Colorado River region. Very few plants produce seeds that are easy to harvest, easy to process, delicious, available for several weeks, secured from high winds, free of insect damage, and ready-to-eat without any cooking required. All the qualities determining the true value of wild foods are seen in yellow suncups. As the harvest season approaches, seed-laden capsules peel like 4-parted bananas. This distinctive peeling helps identify what remains of yellow suncups withering in the desert sun. Dry plants barely alive stand in defiance to an army of invasive mustards and fight for a place to seed the next generation. Planting a few seeds is wise considering the future returns on the effort invested. When eaten fresh, the seeds have a sandy, oily, bread-like flavor and delicately crunchy texture. Toasting highlights the oily flavor, reduces the sandy overtone, and leaves the texture mostly unchanged, except for imparting a bran-like quality. Low heat is recommended because the seeds readily burn. A rising cloud of black smoke is a sure sign that the heat is too high! Seeds of yellow suncups contain mucilage. Simmering promptly draws out this mucilage and produces thick broth. The seeds make an excellent addition to soup, contributing both flavor and body. Grinding them is recommended before adding them to soup because the mucilage forms a slippery coating around the exteriors that inadvertently makes them difficult to chew. No processing is required for long-term storage, but toasting effectively kills any unseen pests. In the Chemehuevi and Gibraltar mountains, the yellow flowers begin to bloom in March. Seeds become available a few weeks afterwards. Overall, seeds of yellow suncups are an excellent resource, especially considering where this plant grows.

Brown eyes (C. claviformis) produce edible leaves that taste rather unappealing due to an acrid stinging sensation. Small amounts of leaves can serve as salad material, but large amounts need to be cooked. Based on flavor, the seeds are a better resource than the leaves, but the seeds are not reported to be edible. Raw seeds taste oily and slightly bitter. Toasted seeds have a delicate texture and a hearty flavor. Boiled seeds also taste hearty. Boiling draws out mucilage and reduces bitterness. Chaff imparts a salty flavor. Removing the bulk of chaff is fairly easy, but little bits tend to evade the winnowing process. Seeds readily fall out of the papery seedpods. A few seeds persist in the lower sections to help extend the gathering season, but most seeds fall to the ground where ants promptly walk away with the bounty. Brown eyes are common in deserts, where they often form endless carpets of white in late winter or early spring. Centers of the flowers are often brownish, hence the vernacular name brown eyes.

IDENTIFICATION: The evening primrose family is a botanical disaster zone, and the species described here have had several names over the years. Currently, Chylismia is recognized as a genus, and as a subsection in the Camissonia genus, which is confusing because it can’t be both at the same time. Thankfully, even though names change, descriptions remain the same.

Description of yellow suncups (Chylismia brevipes): FORM upright, hairy, annual plants about 10-70 cm tall from taproots; LEAVES simple or once-pinnate; basal and alternate; concentrated and more developed basally; blades lance-shaped in outline; margins toothed, lobed, or deeply cut to the midribs; leaflets of pinnate leaves lance-shaped, with the terminal leaflet much bigger than the lateral leaflets; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary inferior, showy, and arranged in nodding terminal racemes; sepals 4; petals 4, yellow, sometimes with red dots; stigmas globe-shaped; stamens 8, T-shaped (versatile); FRUITS capsules linear, 25-90 mm long by 1-3 mm thick, and splitting 4-ways at maturity; SEEDS numerous, hairless, and arranged in 2 rows per chamber; HABITAT sandy or rocky areas in deserts; often among creosote or Joshua trees; southern Arizona and California, northward to southern Utah and Nevada; blooming March to May.

Description of brown eyes (Chylismia claviformis): FORM upright, annual plants about 4-60 cm tall from taproots; LEAVES simple or once-pinnate; basal and alternate; concentrated and more developed basally; blades lance-shaped in outline; margins toothed, lobed, or deeply cut to the midribs; leaflets of pinnate leaves lance-shaped, with the terminal leaflet much bigger than the lateral leaflets; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary inferior, vespertine, and arranged in nodding terminal racemes; sepals 4; petals 4, white, often with a pink, purple, or yellow tint, and sometimes with reddish-brown dots; stigmas globe-shaped; stamens 8, T-shaped (versatile); FRUITS capsules narrowly cylindrical to club-shaped (clavate), 10-30 mm long by 1-3 mm thick, and splitting 4-ways at maturity; SEEDS numerous, hairless, plump, arranged in 2 rows per chamber; HABITAT sandy or rocky areas in deserts; often among creosote, sagebrush, or juniper; southwestern New Mexico to Idaho, and westward to California and Oregon; blooming February to July.

REFERENCES: #1 yellow suncups (Chylismia brevipes = Camissonia brevipes = Oenothera brevipes): seeds Couplan (p. 278) and Ebeling (pp. 432-433). #2 brown eyes (Chylismia claviformis = Camissonia claviformis = Oenothera claviformis): leaves Ebeling (pp. 384 and 590).

Red Fireweed

FAMILY: Evening primrose family (Onagraceae) – Chamerion genus or subsection.

SPECIES: Red fireweed or great willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub ssp. angustifolium = Epilobium angustifolium L.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: The roots, shoots, stems, leaves, and flowers of red fireweed are edible. None of these parts, except possibly the shoots, taste very appealing. The importance of red fireweed to Native Americans in the Southwest appears to be minor, but to the north, it was very important. Red fireweed prefers cool temperate regions. In the Southwest, although not uncommon, it’s restricted to mountain habitats. 

Roots of red fireweed are an unfortunate combination of acrid, mucilaginous, and woody qualities that degrade a richness of complex carbohydrates. The skins are thick, loosely attached, and often covered with bumps arranged in regular patterns resembling Braille literature. Roots can also be smooth or flaky. With enough effort, food value can be derived from the roots—but another set of teeth may be needed after all the gnawing! In fairness, the roots can also be soft like carrots. Softer sections occur where the roots are actively growing. Thorough boiling draws out bitterness and makes tougher roots more manageable, but it doesn’t significantly reduce the acrid stinging sensation. This acrid sensation, often described as “peppery,” is usually weak in red fireweed. However, in combination with the fibrous texture, it can feel like eating finely shaved glass. Overall, the roots are a low-quality wild food.

Stems of red fireweed have pithy interiors. Obtaining meaningful amounts of the pith ranges from reasonably easy to rather difficult depending on the plant’s age. Stems are often too tough or too narrow to bother scraping out this potential resource. Lower stems are tougher than upper stems. Rhizomes near the stem base junctions are also very tough. Young stems are preferable to old stems. Stems, pith, and rhizomes are equally acrid. None of these parts seem to qualify as good wild foods.

Leaves of red fireweed can be eaten fresh or cooked. They’re barely suitable for salads, and not much better as potherbs. Fresh leaves taste acrid, bitter, and soapy. At best, they impose a mild burning sensation due to oxalates. At worst, the burning sensation is excessive. Leaf texture is thick, heavy, waxy, and easy to chew, somewhat like collard greens. It’s not a delicate texture. Lower leaf surfaces are coated with wax to help prevent water loss. Fresh, cooked, young and old leaves taste about the same. Boiling draws out astringency, but it doesn’t significantly improve the flavor. The resulting wastewater tastes awful. Red fireweed is a leafy plant. Gathering a supply of leaves isn’t too difficult, but eating that supply might be more challenging. Overall, the leaves tend to be unappealing, but they can serve as a source of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.

Flowers and flower buds of red fireweed taste better than other parts. Unappealing aspects seen in other parts are also seen in these parts, but to a lesser extent. Petals, pistils, and stamens represent the best-tasting parts of red fireweed, followed by the flower buds. A faint sweetness hides under the distasteful overtones. Flower buds lack this faint sweetness. Reddish-purple coloring is lost upon boiling, and replaced by clear white. Since boiling improves the flavor by minimizing the unappealing aspects, flowers and flower buds can serve as fairly good potherbs.

NOTES: My experiences with red fireweed are based on all the parts except the one that was most frequently consumed by Native Americans—the shoots. Since red fireweed is a perennial plant that grows in colonies, predicting where the shoots can be harvested in spring is easy enough. Colonies can be located when their showy flowers are painting the landscape with a wild brush of purple, and then these colonies can be revisited the following spring. The Haidas (indigenous people of what is now British Columbia, Canada) sometimes owned productive colonies of red fireweed and ate the shoots at springtime feasts (Turner 1995 pp. 106-107). Red fireweed was formerly placed in the Epilobium genus. Many species in this genus are commonly called willowherbs and all species in the Epilobium genus are reported to be edible (Vizgirdas pp. 85-86).

IDENTIFICATION: Currently, two species of the Chamerion genus are recognized in the United States. Willowherbs (of the Epilobium genus) are closely related. In fireweeds, the calyx lobes are cut down to the ovaries, thus there are no floral tubes (hypanthiums). In willowherbs, the calyx lobes are not so deeply cut, so that the floral tubes are produced above the ovaries. Both groups produce seeds bearing tufts of long silky hairs (comas) at one end. Compared to willowherbs, fireweeds are larger plants with larger petals lacking notches.

Description of red fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium): FORM upright, perennial plant about 3-17 dm tall emerging from a rhizome; LEAVES simple; alternate; sessile or tapering to short stalks; blades lanceolate; margins entire; surfaces hairless or finely hairy; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary inferior, and arranged in showy terminal racemes; floral tubes above ovaries absent; sepals 4, deciduous, and free to the ovaries; petals 4, pinkish-purple, about 8-20 mm long, and lacking notches; styles 1, longer than the stamens; stigmas deeply 4-lobed; stamens 8; FRUITS capsules linear; splitting 4-ways and oriented upward at maturity; SEEDS numerous, each with a tuft of hair (coma) at one end, generally whitish, and arranged in 1 row per chamber; HABITAT mountain meadows; northern half of the Southwest and Rocky Mountains; circumboreal in the northern hemisphere; blooming June to September.

REFERENCES: Red fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium = Epilobium angustifolium): roots, shoots, stem pith, leaves, and flowers Couplan (p. 277).

Velvetweed

FAMILY: Evening primrose family (Onagraceae) – Gaura subsection of Oenothera genus.

SPECIES: Velvetweed or beeblossom (Oenothera curtiflora W. L. Wagner & Hoch = Gaura parviflora Douglas ex Lehm. = Gaura mollis E. James.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Velvetweed roots are edible. They need to be gathered when the plants are young. The plants live for 1 or 2 years. When stems develop, the roots shrivel and become tougher than tree branches. Even roots of young plants can be tough. Based on the plants sampled for this reference, freshly harvested roots had light-brown skins covering thin chewable layers that surrounded thick cores. Simmering the roots produced an aroma nearly identical to carrots. Despite the inviting aroma, the terribly acrid flavor was a long way from carrots. These roots tasted awful. The “peppery” flavor affecting roots of any age was more like a stinging sensation than the familiar zest of black pepper. Boiling didn’t significantly improve the flavor or soften the texture. The resulting wastewater needed to be discarded. Chewable layers surrounding the cores tasted better than the other sections, but they certainly wouldn’t be the highlight of any meal. Attempting to make soup out of these roots would have disastrous results. Gathering the roots is fairly easy, but barely worth the effort considering the product. Thick stems indicate thick roots. Overall, velvetweed roots seem to be a wild food for desperate times.

NOTES: Very little has been written about velvetweed roots, so hopefully the description above provides foragers with an estimate of what can be expected. It’s possible that roots from other regions taste better, but all the ones I tried were terrible. The plants I gathered were growing in favorable conditions and I gathered them before the stems appeared. Plants growing in favorable conditions often taste superior to those growing in harsh conditions, but that didn’t help the velvetweeds I tried. Apparently, the only reference to the edibility of this plant is the one cited below. Velvetweed is native to central and western North America, so it was available to Native Americans. Hopi, Navajo, Isleta, and Zuni Indians used it for medicinal purposes, but apparently only the Navajo used it as food. Velvetweed is well adapted to arid environments. As its name suggests, it is a weed, but it’s not one that seems to be of much value to foragers.

IDENTIFICATION: The Gaura genus has been merged into the Oenothera genus, or other genera. So, for the most part, it’s now considered to be a subsection of the Oenothera genus. Most members of the evening primrose family produce linear capsules that split open 4-ways at maturity. In Gaura, capsules are more football-shaped and 4-ridged, and they don’t split open. Velvetweed differs from other Gaura by having smaller flowers and oval anthers.

Description of velvetweed (Oenothera curtiflora = Gaura parviflora): FORM upright, annual or biennial plant about 3-22 dm tall emerging from a taproot; stems generally branching above the bases; LEAVES simple; alternate; sessile or the bases narrowed into short stalks; blades ob/lanceolate, 1-4 cm wide by 5-14 cm long, and gradually reduced upwards; margins entire and often wavy; surfaces covered with long, soft, unmated hairs (villous) and sticky hairs (glandular); FLOWERS perfect, slightly irregular, ovary inferior, and arranged in long, nodding, terminal spikes; hypanthiums prolonged beyond the ovaries; sepals 4, deciduous, and about 2-4 mm long; petals 4, free, pink, and about 1-3 mm long; stamens 8, all fertile; anthers oval (rather than linear-oblong); FRUITS capsules narrowly fusiform and not splitting open at maturity; SEEDS 1-4, without tufts of hairs; HABITAT fields, mesas, washes, and roadsides; throughout the United States; blooming April to August.

REFERENCES: Velvetweed (Oenothera curtiflora = Gaura parviflora): roots Moerman (p. 121).

Evening Primroses

FAMILY: Evening primrose family (Onagraceae) – Oenothera genus.

SPECIES: #1 whitestem evening primrose (Oenothera albicaulis Pursh = Anogra albicaulis (Pursh) Britton). #2 common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis L.). #3 Hooker’s or western evening primrose (Oenothera elata Kunth ssp. hookeri (Torr. & A. Gray) W. Dietr. & W. L. Wagner = Oenothera hookeri Torr. & A. Gray). #4 pale evening primrose (Oenothera pallida Lindl.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: It’s possible that the roots, leaves, young seedpods, and seeds of all species in the Oenothera genus are edible, but this statement could not be confirmed. Species listed above are edible as follows: #1 roots, leaves, immature fruits, and seeds; #2 entire plant; #3 roots, leaves, and seeds; #4 immature fruits. Most references to the edibility of plants in the Oenothera genus are for common evening primrose (O. biennis), primarily of the eastern United States. Harrington (p. 84) indicates that all species in the Oenothera genus would be worth a trial and that none are poisonous. Roots and seeds represent the most valuable parts of evening primroses. Leaves (at least those that I sampled) tend to be acrid and seedpods tend to be tough. Cooking is unlikely to help with these issues. Compounds that cause an acrid stinging sensation in the mouth, often described as a “peppery” flavor, generally compromise the roots, leaves, and young seedpods. Seeds (at least those that I sampled) are free of these acrid compounds. Evening primroses are a complex group of plants. Recognizing the group is easy, but identifying the species is challenging, which may explain why they’re not represented better in ethnobotanical literature. References to the edibility of evening primroses often fail to specify the species or they treat the whole genus as one species. Several species were important sources of food and medicine for the Apache, Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Jemez, Kiowa, Paiute, and Pomo Indians (Austin pp. 182-183), exactly which species is difficult to determine. The name evening primrose alludes to the vespertine nature of these plants, which generally bloom in the evening and close in the morning. Several species bloom early in the growing season, beginning in January or February. Other species prefer to bloom in spring or summer, so the gathering season includes most of the year, depending on the species and the part being gathered.

Whitestem evening primrose (O. albicaulis) is a short, common, annual plant of sandy habitats. Only the youngest plants have tender roots. Gathering should be done when the plants are rosettes. These can be spotted near the remains of old plants persisting in the sand. Golden brown seeds are often trapped in the distinctive remains and should not be overlooked in survival situations. Roots of whitestem evening primrose are white with brown skins and rather small. Peeling the skins is wasteful and unnecessary. Robust roots may attain the size of carrots, but most are smaller. Outer portions normally remain soft long after inner portions become tough, woody, and fibrous. Gathering soft roots is imperative because cooking won’t adequately soften tough roots. Whitestem evening primrose roots taste acrid, peppery, and starchy. An ocean-like or oyster-like characteristic may also be apparent. Alkaline habitats, which are common in deserts, impart this characteristic. At least a few other species in the Oenothera genus taste similar, and are comparable to an unrelated plant of the sunflower family called salsify. Boiling won’t significantly change the flavor. The resulting broth is light brown and tastes identical to fresh roots. Whitestem evening primrose roots are a decent wild food, but the flavor could use an adjustment. The leaves could use an even bigger adjustment. Leaves of any age taste acrid and are generally unsuitable for consumption raw or cooked. Seeds of whitestem evening primrose are golden-yellow and much better suited for consumption than the roots or leaves. Evening primroses are free of awns, barbs, bristles, and other sharp objects, so gathering the seeds shouldn’t be too hazardous. An ample supply of seeds can be shaken out of the plants or freed by prying the woody seedpods open by hand. Chaff inevitably mixes with the seeds and refuses to separate peacefully because it approximates the seeds in size and weight. Sifting may prove more effective than winnowing at separating the mess. Care should be taken to sift out any sand. The seeds are soft enough to eat raw, but they taste better cooked. Toasting produces a wonderful aroma similar to cookies baking in an oven. The flavor isn’t quite that good, but it’s mild, hearty, and free of harsh overtones. The seeds toast fast, so low heat is recommended to avoid clouds of rising smoke! Crackling indicates that the seeds are done. Boiling produces a thick, yellowish broth with an oily flavor. The thickening ability of these seeds can be overwhelming, so be careful when adding them to soup! Despite the oily flavor, no oils are visible. Regardless of how the seeds are prepared, the flavor is decent and the aroma is wonderful.

Common evening primrose (O. biennis) is primarily a plant of the eastern United States. In the Southwest, it’s found in parts of New Mexico, particularly the north-central part, and a few isolated locations scattered about the other states. Several “equivalent” species (meaning upright evening primroses with stems and yellow flowers) can be found in the Southwest including: western evening primrose (O. elata), longstem evening primrose (O. longissima), and hairy evening primrose (O. villosa). Due to the scarcity of common evening primrose in the Southwest, it’s not of much value to southwestern foragers.

Western evening primrose (O. elata ssp. hookeri) is a tall, common, biennial plant that produces valuable taproots. Biennial plants live for 2 years. Resources accumulate in the roots during the first year to provide nourishment for the plants during the second year. Gathering first-year roots is imperative because second-year roots become tough as the plants consume the resources. Gathering is best done anytime from autumn to spring. Summer is less favorable because younger roots haven’t reached full size and older roots are rapidly being depleted. Plants appear as leafy rosettes in the gathering season. Older plants, whether blooming, fruiting, or withering, can help identify the rosettes by providing a reference to the leaf shape or fruit shape. Plants of any age have similar leaves. First-year roots are initially soft, moist, tender, and white with tan skins. Some reddish-purple coloring is normal. Second-year roots have tough cores surrounded by thin outer layers. These outer layers are reasonably manageable, but the cores are essentially worthless. Cooking won’t adequately soften the cores. Western evening primrose roots taste acrid, peppery, and starchy. A potato-like quality is obvious under the peppery overtone. The texture is easily chewable, except for a few dental-floss-like strings. Mucilage may also be present. Boiling has little effect upon the flavor and yields a terribly acrid broth that’s probably best discarded. Leaves of any age also taste acrid, and are generally unsuitable for consumption raw or cooked. Seeds of western evening primrose are a better resource than the leaves. Seeds and seedpods are important for identifying evening primroses. Seedpods of western evening primrose are sturdy, woody, wingless, cylindrical-angled, and oriented upwards. Seeds are brownish-black, sharp-angled, and arranged in 2 rows per chamber. Related species have similar seeds and seedpods. Many seeds are lost when the seedpods split open, but the upward orientation helps prevent loss. Only the upper portions split open. Lower portions remain closed and retain seeds almost indefinitely. An ample supply of seeds can normally be shaken out of the seedpods with very little effort. Freeing the seeds trapped inside is considerably more difficult. Seeds of western evening primrose mature in late autumn and provide a valuable source of nourishment.

Pale evening primrose (O. pallida) grows throughout most of the western United States. At least one source (Ebeling p. 518, cited as Anogra pallida) indicates that the Apache Indians of southern Arizona and southern New Mexico ate the immature seedpods of this species.

NOTES: I also sampled the roots and leaves of tufted evening primrose (O. caespitosa), and the roots, leaves, and seeds of birdcage evening primrose (O. deltoides). Roots of these species were about as hard as wood and the leaves were terrible wild foods. It’s likely that perennials tend to produce tougher roots than annuals or biennials, but birdcage evening primrose is an annual (or short-lived perennial) and its roots were tough—even when the plants were young only the outer portions of the roots were chewable. Birdcage evening primrose grows abundantly in sandy soils across southern California and looks very similar to whitestem evening primrose (O. albicaulis) and pale evening primrose (O. pallida). All three are white-flowered species with stems. The seeds of birdcage evening primrose tasted similar to those of whitestem evening primrose described above. A big part of the problem with evening primroses is that the fruits and seeds are required for identification, and many features used to differentiate the species are highly variable. Since none of the species are known to be poisonous (Harrington p. 84), misidentifying them shouldn’t have any serious consequences.

IDENTIFICATION: About 65 species of the Oenothera genus are found in the United States, but this number is subject to change. Members of the evening primrose family have been shuffled and re-shuffled many times, and botanists are not yet satisfied with the organization. The Oenothera genus is highly complex and often divided into smaller sections, and sometimes those sections are recognized as genera. Evening primroses are highly diversified in the Southwest. Flowers, fruits, and seeds are required for identification.

Description of evening primroses (the Oenothera genus): FORM upright or low-growing annual, biennial, or perennial plants; LEAVES simple; basal and/or alternate; blades lanceolate in outline; margins smooth, toothed, lobed, or deeply cut to the midribs; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary inferior, showy, generally opening at dusk, and arranged individually in the leaf axils; hypanthiums prolonged beyond the ovaries; sepals 4, deciduous; petals 4, white, yellow, or pinkish-purple, widely heart-shaped; stigmas deeply 4-lobed, appearing X-shaped; stamens 8; anthers attached to filaments by midsections (versatile) rather than bases (basifixed/innate), thus stamens appearing T-shaped; FRUITS capsules narrowly cylindrical to broadly fusiform, often angled or winged, and splitting 4-ways at maturity; SEEDS numerous, hairless, and arranged in 1 or 2 rows per chamber; HABITAT diverse, often in sandy or well-drained soils, fields, or open areas; deserts to mountains; throughout the United States and elsewhere; blooming February to October, or potentially anytime in warm climates.

REFERENCES: #1 whitestem evening primrose (Oenothera albicaulis): roots and leaves Ebeling (845); immature fruits and seeds Castetter (1936 p. 45, cited as Anogra albicaulis) and Moerman (p. 163). #2 common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis): entire plant Foster (2006 pp. 154-155); roots Couplan (p. 278), Moerman (p. 163), and Vizgirdas (p. 84); leaves and seeds Moerman (p. 163). #3 western evening primrose (Oenothera elata ssp. hookeri = Oenothera hookeri): roots and leaves Couplan (p. 278) and Ebeling (845); seeds Ebeling (845). #4 pale evening primrose (Oenothera pallida): immature fruits Ebeling (p. 518, cited as Anogra pallida).