Oenothera speciosa

Mexican evening primrose

Family: Onagraceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Mexican evening primrose is a naturalized perennial found in southern coastal California in disturbed places at elevations generally below 500 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces white flowers fading to pink or rose-purple, with petals 25 to 40 millimeters long. Growing with weakly ascending to erect stems 10 to 50 centimeters tall, it forms large patches from woody caudices and rhizomes. Its cauline leaves are 2.5 to 8 centimeters long, oblanceolate to nearly elliptic, with wavy or nearly entire margins. When young, the plant forms rosettes and spreads widely through its rhizomatous growth habit.

Habitat: Disturbed places

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: generally < 500 m

Bioregions: SCo

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