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Oenothera brevipes

Common name:	Golden Suncup	Family:	Onagraceae
Author:	A.Gray.	Botanical references:	71
Synonyms:	Camissonia brevipes ((Gray.)Raven.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	South-western N. America - California.
Habitat:	Dry slopes and washes below 1500 metres[71].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Camissonia brevipes ssp. brevipes[B,C,CAL,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Golden Suncup [B,P], Yellow Cups [P],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Myrtales. Evening Primrose family

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.3m. . The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies) and bees. The plant is self-fertile. It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Leaves Root Seed Seedpod.

Seed.[105, 161, 257]. No more details are given, but the seed is rather small and its use would be very fiddly.
Seedpod[213]. No more details are given.
Root - cooked. Too small to be a staple food, but useful in an emergency, the roots taste best in late autumn, winter and early spring[213].
Leaves and young shoots - cooked[213].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

We have very little information on this species and are not sure if it will succeed outdoors in Britain, though it is worth trying as a spring sown annual. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus.
Prefers a dryish well-drained sandy loam and full sun[1, 200]. Heavy clay soils may induce winter rots[200]. Succeeds in poor soils.
The flowers open in the evening, they are richly scented and are very attractive to moths.

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ from late spring to early summer.

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers open in the evening, they are richly scented and are very attractive to moths.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Camissonia brevipes (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for Camissonia brevipes ssp. brevipes (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for the family Onagraceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[71] Munz. A California Flora. University of California Press 1959
An excellent flora but no pictures. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

Main Search Page Help Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Oenothera+brevipes
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Oenothera+brevipes

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.