Lewis River Evening Primrose
Oenothera cespitosa Nutt.
An annual with branching stems up to 10 inches tall. The strap-shaped leaves are alternate and 4 to 10 inches long, 1/2 to 1 inch broad, the petioles slender, usually subequal to the runcinate or pinnatifid to remotely toothed or nearly entire blades. Foliage is sparsely hairy to glandular. Petals white, aging to pinkish, 1 to 2 inches long. Anthers 1/3 to ½ inch long. Stigma lobes ¼ to 1/3 inch long. Capsule sessile, usually curved, tuberculate on the angles, ½ to ¾ inch long. Flowers late April through mid-June. Flowers of plants generally open at sunset. It grows from eastern Oregon though Idaho to Wyoming and Montana.