Oenothera avita

California evening primrose

Family: Onagraceae · Type: perennial · Native

California evening primrose is a California native perennial found in western California in open, sandy or rocky areas at elevations from sea level to 1,500 meters. Flowering from April to September, this plant produces white flowers that fade to pink, with delicate petals 15 to 35 millimeters long. Growing with decumbent or ascending stems 10 to 80 centimeters tall that tend to peel, it develops from a rosette when young and spreads through lateral shoots. Its cauline leaves are lanceolate to triangular-ovate, ranging 1 to 6 centimeters long, with edges that may be entire or slightly pinnately lobed. The fruit is a slender cylindrical capsule 2 to 3 millimeters wide, which can be straight or slightly curved.

California counties: San Bernardino, San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside, Kern, Santa Barbara, Inyo, Tulare, Mono, Imperial, San Luis Obispo, Lassen

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.