Edge/ Evening Primrose

COMMON NAME: Evening Primrose

OTHER COMMON NAME(S): Fever Plant, King’s Cureall, Night Willow-herb, Scabish, Sun drop

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Oenothera biennis

FAMILY: Onagraceae

COMMUNITY: Edge

STATUS: Native

LIFESPAN: Biennial or short-lived perennial

HEIGHT: 1.5 to 6 feet

FLOWERING TIME: Early June to August

FRUITING TIME: Early July to September

DISTRIBUTION: Throughout United States and Southern Canada ~ Statewide in NJ

IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Leaves alternate, lance-shaped, wavy-edged, and toothed ~ Flowers yellow, fragrant, solitary in the leaf axil, 1 to 2 inches in diameter, 4 petals ~ Flowers open toward evening and wilt the next day ~ Fruit linear-oblong up to 3 cm long capsule ~ Stem erect, unbranched or branched higher up

GENERAL INFORMATION: The Evening Primrose is edible as a cooked vegetable, salad or as a cooked green.  The first-year taproot can be peeled and boiled and served with butter; it has a peppery flavor.  The tender new leaves can be peeled and served as a peppery addition to salad or boiled and served as a cooked green. The 1998 edition of the Physician’s Deck Reference for Herbal Medicines reports that  commercially available preparations containing primrose oil (0.5 gm) are used for neurodermatities, premenstrual syndrome and as a dietary aid.  In Germany, a capsule containing 0.5 gm of evening primrose oil is approved to treat eczema. Native Americans applied a whole-plant poultice to bruises and rubbed the chewed root on muscles to increase strength.  An infusion (medicine prepared by steeping plant parts without boiling) was taken as a dietary aid.

Please note: While harvesting wild berries/fruit is permitted at Island Beach State Park, visitors must adhere to park regulations at all times and must not damage vegetation or go off designated trails.  This information is presented for educational purposes.