Onagraceae

Yellow evening primrose

Oenothera flava (A.Nelson) Garrett

Family: Onagraceae
Genus: Oenothera

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Yellow evening primrose: Oenothera flava—yellow evening primrose. Found in the northern Sierras and Modoc Plateau of California and north to Canada, thence following the Rockies south t — Photo: John Rusk from Berkeley, CA, United States of America, CC BY 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons

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Common names

By language (1)

English: Yellow evening primrose, Murdock's evening primrose

Synonyms

Lavauxia flava A.Nelson
Lavauxia hamata Wooton & Standl.
Lavauxia palustris Rose
Lavauxia taraxacoides Wooton & Standl.
Oenothera flava subsp. taraxacoides (Wooton & Standl.) W.L.Wagner
Oenothera hamata (Wooton & Standl.) Tidestr.
Oenothera murdockii S.L.Welsh & N.D.Atwood
Oenothera taraxacifolia var. ecristata (M.E.Jones) H.Lév. & Guffroy
Oenothera taraxacoides Munz
Oenothera triloba var. ecristata M.E.Jones

Flowers

Flower colour: yellow (USDA PLANTS Database)

Characteristics

Growth habit: Forb/herb
Lifespan: Perennial
In the US and Canada: Canada: native, Lower 48 states: native

Photos

Photo: John Rusk from Berkeley, CA, United States of America, CC BY 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Thayne Tuason, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: John Rusk from Berkeley, CA, United States of America, CC BY 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons

More in Oenothera

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.