Ludwigia alternifolia (Bushy Seedbox) on 9-1-19, #620-29.

Onagraceae Juss.

on-uh-GRAY-see-ee
OR
on-uh-GRAY-see-eye

The plant family Onagraceae was named and described by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in Genera Plantarum in 1789.

As of 12-21-23 when this page was last updated, Plants of the World Online lists 22 accepted genera in this family of flowering plants. It is commonly known as the Willow Herb family or the Evening Primrose family. It includes species of herbs, shrubs, and trees.

I am only familiar with four species in this family. You can click on the names under the photos to go to their own pages. There are probably more I haven’t identified yet. You never know what you will find…

For more information about this family of plants, please click on the links below. The links take you directly to the information about the family.

PLANTS OF THE WORLD ONLINE
WIKIPEDIA
BRITANNICA
FLORA OF NORTH AMERICA

Ludwigia alternifolia (Bushy Seedbox) on 9-1-19, #620-32.

I found a good-sized colony of Ludwigia alternifolia (Bushy Seedbox) in the back of the farm by the pond on September 1 in 2019 while I was wildflower hunting. The first thing that caught my attention was the square-like seed pods. I found them again late in 2020 but couldn’t find them when I checked several times in 2021…

<<<<+>>>>

Ludwigia peploides subsp. glabrescens (Floating Primrose Willow) on the pond behind the barn on 7-11-21, #810-14.

For as long as I can remember, Ludwigia peploides subsp. glabrescens (Floating Primrose Willow) have grown on the main pond behind the barn and one of the ponds in the back pasture. For some reason, they haven’t grown in the pond in the front pasture or the second pond in the back pasture (which is next to the other one). I remember my grandpa dragging these plants out of the pond with a rake. I never heard him call them by name but I know he didn’t like them.

<<<<+>>>>

Oenothera biennis (Common Evening Primrose) on 8-7-17, #365-14.

When I moved back to the family farm in 2013, I noticed these plants growing in the cracks of what used to be the back porch of my grandparent’s old house. My dad told me that they always came up there. Through looking at photos on the Missouri Plants website, I identified them as Oenothera biennis (Common Evening Primrose). Dad must have been cutting them off because after I let them grow, flower, and produce seed, they started coming up in the flower bed behind the old porch. GEEZ! Since their flowers open at night and are closed when I get up I have not been able to get photos of their flowers. Hmmm… I even found a plant growing in the south hayfield in 2023.

<<<<+>>>>

Oenothera macrocarpa subsp. macrocarpa (Bigfruit Evening Primrose) after on 5-27-20, #705-1.

I brought this Oenothera macrocarpa (Bigfruit Evening Primrose) home from one of the local greenhouses on May 26 in 2020. Although it is a native to Missouri, it supposedly isn’t found in the county I live in… I put this plant in a flower bed behind the foundation where my grandparents home used to be but it didn’t return in 2021.

That is all I have experienced within this plant family at the moment. Never know what I will find…