PlantFiles: White Buttercup, Pale Evening Primrose
Oenothera pallida var. runcinata

I've always loved this plant. It grows wild throughout the Black Belt of Alabama, often filling up medians and roadsides. I have a patch in my yard that requires no work whatsoever. It's been there ten years and hasn't significantly invaded - frequent mowing seems to prevent it.

When I was a girl my Mother told me it was a buttercup despite the bright pink and pale white colors. She demonstrated the reason by sniffing a bloom up close - and coming out with a yellow nose from the pollen. This is the only site I've seen confirm the name buttercup!

Bees love them - you can almost always find one or two buzzing around when they are in full bloom.

The flowers seem similar to the common evening primrose. Oenothera speciosa. pokerboy.

Amazing...how such short plants (the foliage, a rosette, reaches only a few cm ) bring such big flowers. I 've measured them 12 cm across. They open early evening. I miss the scent of the other oenothera species. But growing along my gardenpath they are like lightning beacons in the evening.
When the blooms fade they turn in a beautifull pink. Flowers bloom for only one night, but there are always more to come.
Our summer's drought is no problem for them.
I 've propagated them from seed and they 're blooming in its first year. Let's see what they do next year and maybe I'll upgrade my comment.