Western evening-primrose

Description:

Oenothera elata var. (also subsp.) hirsutissima (syn. O. hookeri var./subsp. hirsutissima, O. biennis var./subsp. hirsutissima).Tends to grow in riparian or wettish habitats in natural environments, here growing near a wet drainage in a remnant ecotone. This is also one of our relatively few native plant species that has been able to persist in urban environments where it will spread and intermittently appear along ditches, gutters, and creeks. Short-lived, usually a biennial, forming a basal rosette the first year, and then growing very tall the second year (often seven to eight feet tall or more, i.e. over 2 meters).The species is also known also as Hooker's evening-primrose.July 27, 2013, Wasatch Front, Little Cottonwood Canyon drainage, Sandy, Salt Lake County, Utah, approx. 5,125 ft. elev.