EVENING PRIMROSE IS BLOOMING

EVENING PRIMROSE FLOWER STEM...

...WITH MULTIPLE FLOWERS AND RIPENING SEED PODS

Thursday, 8:00 AM. 63 degrees F, wind ENE, calm to very light.  The sky is cloudy and overcast, the humidity is 94% and the barometer is trending down, now at 29.93".  It looks like we will get more rain latter.  I need to mow the lawn, so I wish it would hold off.
   The preparation for our rummage sale proceeds apace, and is looking fairly organized but it has been an ordeal.  Yesterday I took a whole pickup truck full non-recyclable junk and garbage to the landfill.  It cost $25 but was a relief to be rid of it all.  I hope it is the last load.
   The country and the world are in such a mess I often  try to forget about it, thus little commentary.  I will say this about the situation in Ferguson, MO, outside of St. Louis: justice cannot be obtained for the individuals involved or the community under the threat of rioting and violence.  I have been watching the same scenario for sixty years and nothing is ever learned or accomplished, while neighborhoods are burned out and all promises of a better future for their residents trashed. The agitators, including Attorney General Eric Holder, need to leave and allow the community to heal.  On the other hand, local police in the US have become  far too militarized, armed with the  threatening weapons and equipment of warfare.  This type of intimidation, verging on oppression, has to be rolled back all across the country or there will be broader and more serious uprisings.
   Oenothera biennis, the evening primrose, is in the same family, the Onagraceae, as fireweed (Epilobium).  The two genera of plants share the quality of bearing flowers and ripening seed pods at the same time on their flowering stems.  In fact, the genus name Oenothera is an ancient  name for a species of fireweed.  The species name biennis refers to the plant being a biennial.  The first year of growth is a rosette of leaves which does not flower.
   Evening primrose flowers, which are rather pretty, open towards evening, giving the plant its common name.  The highly perfumed flowers are mostly pollinated by evening-flying insects.  The North American genus has seventeen species and the species biennis has numerous varieties, all interbreed and are hopelessly mixed up taxonomically, so evening primroses can be found in many habitats and almost everywhere.  They were introduced very early from America to Europe where they were much hybridized, and there are some very beautiful garden introductions.
   Evening primrose has a long history of medicinal use in both European and American Indian herbal medicine.  Infusions of the bark and leaves are considered a sedative and strong anti-biotic, useful in various internal complaints and skin infections.   Oil of the seeds also has  very strong antibiotic properties and reportedly is still used to good effect for ear infections in children.  The roots are considered edible and highly nutritious, although I have no personal experience with them and do not recommend consuming most wild plants.