Showy Evening-primrose
Oenothera grandis
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in upland prairies, roadsides, other disturbed (especially sandy) areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Louisiana. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 71%
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 9 Louisiana parishes.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
22CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA
Genus host records with ranges including LA · 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 22
- Mompha circumscriptellaCircumscript Mompha
- Mompha eloisellaRed-Streaked Mompha
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- 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 rufocristatella
- Mompha stellella
23BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Oenothera
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
4Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Oenothera
- Lasioglossum aberrans
- Lasioglossum lusorium
- Lasioglossum oenotherae
- Melissodes fimbriatus
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
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
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
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)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Oenothera laciniata var. grandiflora; Showy Evening primrose
Conservation status
| Louisiana rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5? |
| LA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition
- USDA PLANTS
- Louisiana occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- 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
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications