Evening
Primrose
(Oenothera biennis)
common evening primrose, fever plant, field primrose, King’s
cure all
Description:
A coarse, 1-8 foot, biennial or annual, with stout, soft and
hairy erect stems. The leaves are alternate, rough-hairy, lanceolate,
taper-pointed, about 3-6 inches long in the first year. The
second year, erect stems are topped by large yellow, lemon-scented
flowers, 1-2 inch across growing in spikes, and open at dusk.
The fruit is an oblong, hairy capsule. Found throughout the
U.S. in dry meadows, waste places and along roadsides.
EDIBLE,
Medicinal: The entire plant is edible. The seeds of biennis
and other species of Oenothera are gathered in the fall, parched
and ground into flour. Roots are dug in the spring and cooked,
which makes a good source of food. It is a astringent and mucilaginous.
The root tea is used for mental depression, stimulates the liver,
spleen and digestive system. It can be made into an ointment
for rashes and other skin irritations. Roots or tops, boiled
in honey, make a soothing cough syrup. The seed oil is helpful
for the skin, menstrual problems, hyperactivity, schizophrenia,
Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, alcoholism, anorexia, nervosa,
and lowers blood pressure.
