Biological Flora of Maritime Coastal Sand Dunes: Oenothera drummondii Hooker

Stalter, R. and Lonard, R.I., 2025. Biological flora of maritime coastal sand dunes: Oenothera drummondii Hooker. Journal of Coastal Research, 41(3), 536–540. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. Oenothera drummondii Hooker, beach evening primrose, is a warm temperate, subtropical, and tropical coastal dune inhabitant that occurs naturally from South Carolina to Florida along the Atlantic coast and along coastlines from Louisiana to Texas and to Vera Cruz, Mexico. It has been introduced in coastal temperate zones globally in several countries and continents and has become an aggressive invasive species in Spain. Plants are short-lived perennials with densely hirsute, grayish stems up to 75 cm tall with sprawling stems up to 1.0 m long from the base of the plant. Petals are yellow, 2.0 to 3.5 cm long, and turn reddish yellow after flowering 1 day. Nocturnal pollinators are typically hawkmoths that are attracted to copious amounts of nectar and masses of pollen grains. Two subspecies are recognized: O. drummondii subsp. drummondii and subspecies thalassaphila. The taxon is confined to nearshore topographic zones on barrier islands in the United States and Mexico and populates siliceous sand dune complexes subject to wind erosion, sand deposition, extreme temperature fluctuations, and low soil moisture.