Oenothera caespitosa, June 8, 2021
Common & scientific name
Evening-primrose, Oenothera caespitosa
Family
Tufted evening-primrose, Onograceae
Location
Twin Lakes roadside, 9,200’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
As the name implies, this unusually large, four-petaled flower opens at night and wilts/closes during the day. Its primary pollinator is a night-flying hawk moth, which has the long tongue needed to reach down through the flower’s tube to the base of the flower, where the nectar lies. Evening-primrose grows in poor soil and needs little water—that’s why it frequently appears roadside!