Oenothera xylocarpa

Wood fruit evening primrose

Family: Onagraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Wood fruit evening primrose is a California native perennial found in central Sierra Nevada Mountains in gravelly to pumice meadows and Jeffrey-pine or lodgepole-pine/fir forests at elevations of 2,200 to 3,100 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces yellow flowers that fade to deep salmon-red, approximately 25 to 38 millimeters long. Growing as a rosetted herb with no visible stem, it emerges with gray-green foliage and a fleshy taproot. Its leaves feature a main segment that is roughly round to oblanceolate, measuring 26 to 62 millimeters long with few small lobes. The distinctive fruit is narrowly lanceolate, curved and twisted, measuring 35 to 90 millimeters long with a wrinkled surface.

Habitat: Gravelly to pumice meadows, Jeffrey-pine or lodgepole-pine/fir forests

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 2200-3100 m

Bioregions: c&amps SNH

California counties: Tulare, Mono, Inyo, San Bernardino

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