Onagraceae FAMILY

Oenothera brevipes

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual

Growth—

We have very little information on this species and are not sure if it will succeed outdoors in Britain, though it is worth trying as a spring sown annual. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus. Prefers a dryish well-drained sandy loam and full sun^{[1, 2]}. Heavy clay soils may induce winter rots^[2]. Succeeds in poor soils. The flowers open in the evening, they are richly scented and are very attractive to moths.

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ from late spring to early summer. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Oenothera+brevipes>

Pollinators

Lepidoptera, bees, Self

References

[1]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
[2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[3]A California Flora. — Munz P.A. & Keck D.D. · University of California Press; Los Angeles · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent flora but no pictures. Not for the casual reader.
[4]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
[5]Food Plants of the N. American Indians. — Yanovsky. E. · U.S. Depf of Agriculture. · ISBN - ↩︎A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.
[6]Native American Ethnobotany — Moerman. D. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 1998 · ISBN 0-88192-453-9 ↩︎Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.
[7]Earth Medicine, Earth Food. — Weiner. M. A. · Ballantine Books · 1980 · ISBN 0-449-90589-6 ↩︎A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.