Oenothera elata subsp. hirsutissima

Family: Onagraceae · Type: biennial · Native

Coastal evening primrose is a California native biennial found in moist inland habitats at elevations up to 2,800 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces yellow flowers with green or red-flushed sepals and distinctive spreading reddish hairs. Growing 1 to 2.5 meters tall with robust stems that range from glandular to hairy, it develops an impressive vertical structure. Its leaves are elongated and somewhat textured, characteristic of the evening primrose family. The flower buds feature free sepals 3 to 6 millimeters long, with prominent anthers 8 to 15 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Moist places, generally inland

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: < 2800 m

Bioregions: CA

California counties: Los Angeles, San Diego, Ventura, Orange, San Bernardino, Fresno, Tuolumne, Tulare, Mono, Modoc, Trinity, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Monterey, Inyo, Siskiyou, Mariposa, Lassen, Plumas, Merced, Santa Cruz, Kern, Alpine, Sacramento, Del Norte, Nevada, El Dorado, Amador, Placer, Sutter, Yolo, San Joaquin, Butte, Tehama, Yuba, Shasta, Napa, Mendocino, San Francisco, Madera, San Luis Obispo

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