Birdcage Evening Primrose
Oenothera deltoides
Birdcage evening primrose is a desert annual whose big white moth-flowers fade pink, its dried stems curling into a cage that tumbles across the sand. A Mojave and Sonoran spring spectacle. The seedpod, seed, root, and young shoots have all served as food, though mostly as a minor or emergency source rather than a staple.
- Family
- Onagraceae
- Type
- wildflower
- Lifespan
- annual
- Height
- 0.5–1.5 ft
- Spacing
- 1–2 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- dry, moist
- Soil pH
- neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- March, April, May
- Bloom colors
- white
- Wildlife value
- pollinators, butterflies
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~16 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- border, container
- Native states
- AZ, CA, NV, OR, UT
Related native plants
More Oenothera species
- Tufted Evening Primrose (Oenothera caespitosa)
- Pink Evening Primrose (Oenothera speciosa)
- Common Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis)
- Hooker's Evening Primrose (Oenothera elata)
- Scarlet Beeblossom (Oenothera suffrutescens)
- Missouri Evening Primrose (Oenothera macrocarpa)