Genus: Oenothera (Evening Primroses)

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Rosids > Eurosid II > Order: Myrtales > Family: Onagraceae

The 125 species are all native to North and South America but many of them have become naturalised in the Old World. In southern Africa, 15 species have become established and a further three species and one hybrid are cultivated in the region.

Species naturalised in southern Africa

List from Plants of Southern Africa - an Online Checklist (SANBI) and Flora of Zimbabwe.

Oenothera affinis
Oenothera biennis (Evening primrose) Native to western USA and Canada.
Oenothera drummondii
Oenothera glazioviana
Oenothera grandiflora
Oenothera indecora
Oenothera jamesii
Oenothera laciniata
Oenothera longiflora
Oenothera parodiana
Oenothera parviflora
Oenothera rosea
Oenothera stricta
Oenothera tetraptera
Oenothera villosa

Other species, cultivated in southern Africa

List from Glen (2002).

Publications

• Dietrich, W. 1977. The South American species of Oenothera (Raimannia, Renneria; Onagraceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 64: 425-626.

• Dietrich, W. & Raven, P.H. 1977. Revision of Oenothera sect. Oenothera subsect. Emersonia (Onagraceae). Systematic Botany 10,1: 29-48.

• Frean, M., Balkwill, K., Gold, C. & Burt, S. 1997. The expanding distribution and invasiveness of Oenothera in southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 63: 449-458.

• Goldblatt, P. & Raven, P.H. 1997. FSA contributions 9: Onagraceae. Bothalia 27: 149-165.