WHAT IS THE EVENING PRIMROSE?
WHAT IS THE EVENING PRIMROSE?
In its natural habitat, the evening primrose is an unassuming little plant with pretty yellow flowers which likes to grow wild along waysides. It’s happiest in sand dunes, along railway sidings, waste sites, and country roadsides. And although you can still easily spot the evening primrose in its natural state, there are now whole fields of it being grown by farmers as a cash crop. For it is from this crop that the millions of tiny seeds which make the precious oil are harvested.Strictly speaking, the evening primrose is not a primrose at all. It is related to the rose bay willow herb family, and to the popular garden flowers clarkia and godetia.It acquired its name because its bright yellow flowers look like the colour of real primroses, and because its flowers open in the evening. It has the curious habit of blooming between 6 and 7 o’clock in the evening, when eight or ten of the largest fragrant flowers can burst open every minute. The flower usually lasts for the whole of the next day, particularly in dull weather, but in bright sunlight the flowers fade quite quickly. In England, the plant flowers from the end of June to mid August.Experts who classify plants (taxonomists) will tell you that the evening primrose belongs to the order Myrtiflorae, family Onagraceae, genus Oenotherae. The generic name comes from the Greek oinos (wine) and thera (hunt). According to herbals, this described a plant – probably a willow herb – which gave one a relish for wine if the roots were eaten. Another interpretation is that the plant dispelled the ill effects of wine, and this fits in better with modern research. Herbals describe the evening primrose as being astringent and sedative, and the oil helpful in treating gastro-intestinal disorders, asthma, whooping cough, female complaints, and wound healing.
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