Hooker's Evening Primrose
Oenothera elata subsp. hirsutissima
Color: Yellow
Common name: Hooker's Evening Primrose
Latin name: Oenothera elata subsp. hirsutissima
Family: ONAGRACEAE
Height: 3-4 feet
Description: Beautiful 5 cm wide yellow flowers with slightly heart-shaped petals open about an hour before sunset and wither the next morning as the weather heats up.
Leaf: Stalks arch high from a basal rosette of leaves and have 1-16" tongue-like hairy leaves along the length of the stalk.
Range: California including Mojave and Sonoran deserts and Great Basin Province.
Habitat: Moist places, generally inland
Elevation: < 2800 m.
Flowering time: May-Sept
Notes: Oenothera elata ssp. hirsutissima, a dicot, is a perennial herb that is native to California and is also found outside of California, but is confined to western North America. It does well as a background plant with some moisture and reseeds plentifully.
We have an online wildflower field guide that is designed to help you identify desert wildflowers by color, scientific name, region and common name. The pictures are sized to work on the iPod, iPhone, iPad and similar devices. With your iPod or phone you will easily be able to identify wildflowers while in the desert. Links for downloads are on the bottom of the Wildflower Field Guide page.
Photo tips: Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function - usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.
Mojave Desert Wildflowers - This book is the standard by which all other wildflower books are measured. The author, Jon Mark Stewart, has combined super photography with concise information. This book has an entire color page for each wildflower covered, with a discussion of the wildflower. 210 pages with 200 color photos. More...
What's Blooming Now - Check the Wildflower Reports
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