Showy Evening-primrose

Oenothera grandis

Found in upland prairies, roadsides, other disturbed (especially sandy) areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 53%

Light: Full sun
Soil moisture: Dry to moist

Oenothera grandis — flower photograph — Clarence A. Rechenthin. Provided by USDA NRCS East Texas PMC (ETPMC). United States, TX, Rockport. · Public domain · Original photograph

At a glance

Life cycle: Annual

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves · Bloom

Bloom: recorded only in the FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team) phone app (app page).

Height, spread and leaves: no source found yet.

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 2 Florida counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Limestone prairie. Shown: Grand Prairie, Coosa Valley Prairies, Floyd County, Georgia, a neighboring state.Grand Prairie, Coosa Valley Prairies, Floyd County, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

20CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL

Genus host records with ranges including FL · Oenothera

Amphion floridensisNessus Sphinx
Apantesis argeArge Tiger Moth
Atroposia oenotheranaPrimrose Cochylid
Desmia funeralisGrape Leaffolder Moth
Eudryas unioPearly Wood-Nymph
Euhagena emphytiformisGaura Borer Moth
Eumorpha fasciatusBanded Sphinx
Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
Hyles lineataWhite-Lined Sphinx
Mompha albocapitellaWhite-Based Mompha

Show all 20

Mompha circumscriptellaCircumscript Mompha
Mompha eloisellaRed-Streaked Mompha
Proserpinus gauraeProud Sphinx
Schinia floridaPrimrose Flower Moth, Evening Primrose Flower Moth
Schinia gauraeClouded Crimson
Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
Dichomeris agonia
Mompha brevivittella
Mompha stellella

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

—BeesSoutheastern regional records

4Specialist beesPollen specialists

Pollen specialists · Oenothera

Lasioglossum aberrans
Lasioglossum lusorium
Lasioglossum oenotherae
Melissodes fimbriatus

Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0

5BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Oenothera

Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
Ortalis vetulaPlain Chachalaca
Tympanuchus pallidicinctusLesser Prairie-Chicken
Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove

Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Onagraceae
Flower color: Yellow

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope

Flower color · “Yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Life cycle · “Annual” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
primary_flower_color · “yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia

Also known as

Oenothera laciniata var. grandiflora; Showy Evening primrose

Conservation status

Florida rank	SNR
Global rank	G5?
FL status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

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