The flower language of the evening primrose is unyielding and free.
The evening primrose is a species in the genus Oenothera of the family Onagraceae. It is highly adaptable, tolerant of acid and drought, and not demanding about soil; it can grow in generally neutral, slightly alkaline or slightly acidic soil, as long as the soil is well drained and loose. In soil that is too wet, the roots are prone to disease. In the north it is an annual plant, and south of the Huai River it is a biennial plant. It is the most important nutritional medicine discovered this century. It can treat many diseases, regulate lipid substances in the blood, and has significant therapeutic effects on coronary artery infarction, atherosclerosis and cerebral thrombosis caused by high cholesterol and high blood lipids.
Evening primrose
Morphological characteristics:
An erect, robust biennial herb, with a basal rosette of leaves pressed close to the ground; the stem is 50-200 cm tall, unbranched or branched, covered with curved soft hairs and spreading long hairs (the bases of the hairs are blister-like), and glandular hairs are often mixed in on the upper part of the stem and branches.
Basal leaves are oblanceolate, 10-25 cm long, 2-4.5 cm wide, acute at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, with sparse, irregular, shallow blunt teeth along the margin, 12-15 lateral veins on each side, and both surfaces covered with curved soft hairs and long hairs; the petiole is 1.5-3 cm long. Stem leaves are elliptic to oblanceolate, 7-20 cm long, 1-5 cm wide, acute to shortly acuminate at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, with 5-19 sparse blunt teeth on each side of the margin, 6-12 lateral veins on each side, and both surfaces on each side covered with curved soft hairs and long hairs, especially on the lower surface and leaf margins of the upper stem leaves, where glandular hairs are often mixed in; the petiole is 0-15 mm long.
The inflorescence is spicate, unbranched, or with secondary lateral inflorescences below the main spike; the bracts are leaf-like, reaching half the length of the flower in bud, becoming elliptic-lanceolate as they grow, decreasing in size from bottom to top, nearly sessile, 1.5-9 cm long, 0.5-2 cm wide, persistent in fruit; the flower buds are conical-oblong, 1.5-2 cm long, 4-5 mm thick, with a beak about 3 mm long at the apex; the floral tube is 2.5-3.5 cm long, 1-1.2 mm in diameter, yellow-green or tinged with red when flowering, covered with a mixture of soft hairs, spreading long hairs and short glandular hairs; it falls off after flowering; the sepals are green, sometimes tinged with red, oblong-lanceolate, 1.8-2.2 cm long, 4-5 mm wide at the widest lower part, abruptly narrowed at the apex into a tail-like tip 3-4 mm long, erect in bud and pressed against each other, reflexed from the base when open but turned upward in the middle, with the same hair covering as the floral tube; the petals are yellow, rarely pale yellow, broadly obovate, 2.5-3 cm long, 2-2.8 cm wide, slightly notched at the apex; the filaments are nearly equal in length, 10-18 mm long; the anthers are 8-10 mm long, and about 50% of the pollen develops; the ovary is green, cylindrical, 4-angled, 1-1.2 cm long, 1.5-2.5 mm thick, densely covered with spreading long hairs and short glandular hairs, sometimes mixed with curved soft hairs; the style is 3.5-5 cm long, with the part exserted beyond the floral tube 0.7-1.5 cm long; the stigma is surrounded by the anthers. When flowering, the pollen is directly deposited on the stigma lobes, and the lobes are 3-5 mm long.
The capsule is conical-cylindrical, narrowing upward, 2-3.5 cm long, 4-5 mm in diameter, erect. It is green, with the same hair covering as the ovary but gradually becoming sparser, and with obvious angles. The seeds are arranged horizontally in the fruit, dark brown, prismatic, 1-1.5 mm long, 0.5-1 mm in diameter, angular, with irregular depressions on each surface.
Evening primrose
Medicinal value:
Dispels wind-dampness; strengthens the tendons and bones. Mainly used for wind-cold-dampness impediment; soreness and weakness of the tendons and bones, invigorates blood and unblocks the collaterals; calms wind and pacifies the liver; reduces swelling and promotes wound healing. Mainly used for chest impediment and heart pain; post-stroke hemiplegia; internal stirring of deficiency wind; hyperactivity in children; wind-dampness numbness and pain; abdominal pain and diarrhea; dysmenorrhea; Behcet's disease; sores and ulcers; eczema.
Economic value:
The flowers of this species are fragrant and beautiful, and it is often cultivated for ornamental use. The flowers can be used to extract aromatic oil; the seeds can be pressed for edible and medicinal oil; the stem bark fibers can be made into rope; its seeds contain 25.1% oil, of which Y-linolenic acid reaches 8.1%, making it the species with the most promising development prospects.
Evening primrose
Plant culture:
There is a saying that when a woman gives an evening primrose to a man, it represents "silent love"; there is also a common saying that the evening primrose represents an unyielding heart and a free heart; others say that the flower language of the evening primrose is "a beauty after bathing" magic.