COMMON EVENING PRIMROSE.
Œnothera biennis, L. Evening-Primrose Family.
Stems.—Stout; usually simple; one to five feet high; more or less hairy. Leaves.—Mostly sessile; lanceolate to oblong; two to six inches long; denticulate. Flowers.—Golden yellow; in a leafy spike; erect in the bud. Calyx-tube.—Twelve to thirty lines long. Petals.—Six to nine lines long. Stigma-lobes.—Linear. Capsule.—An inch or less long. (See Œnothera.) Hab.—Throughout the United States.
The common evening primrose is a very widespread plant in the United States, and it has long been in cultivation in Europe. Its flowers open suddenly at night, and, according to tradition, with a popping noise. Referring to this, the poet Keats speaks of—
"A turf of evening primroses, O'er which the mind may hover till it dozes; O'er which it well might take a pleasant sleep, But that 'tis ever startled by the leap Of buds into ripe flowers."
These blossoms are said to be luminous at night, shining by the sunlight they have stored during the daytime.
The young roots, which are edible, are excellent, either pickled or boiled, having a nutty flavor. In Germany and France these are used, either stewed or raw, in salads, like celery; and the young mucilaginous twigs are also used in the same way. A tincture of the whole plant is a valued remedy in medicine for many disorders. Our Californian plants are mostly of the var. hirsutissima, Gray, having very large flowers and a hairy capsule.