Oenothera pilosella (Prairie Sundrops)
Oenothera pilosella (Prairie Sundrops)
Couldn't load pickup availability
$30 minimum per species for seed.
$30 minimum per species for seed.
Each species requires a minimum of $30 of seed to proceed with checkout.
Pure Live Seed
Pure Live Seed
Seed is provided in Pure Live Seed (PLS) unless otherwise stated.
Pure Live Seed (PLS) refers to the percentage of a seed lot that consists of the desired species and is viable (capable of germination).
Here's why PLS is crucial for native seeds:
-
Accurate Planting:
- PLS helps determine the actual number of viable seeds in a given weight or volume of seed.
- This ensures you plant the correct amount of seed to achieve the desired density and success rate.
-
Cost-Effectiveness:
- By knowing the PLS, you can avoid overspending on seed that may not germinate.
- This is especially important for native seeds, which can be more expensive than some cultivated varieties.
-
Weed Control:
- PLS helps minimize the presence of weed seeds within the seed lot.
- This reduces competition for resources and ensures the successful establishment of the desired native plants.
-
Ecological Restoration:
- Using high-quality native seeds with a high PLS is essential for successful ecological restoration projects.
- It helps to re-establish diverse and resilient plant communities that support local wildlife.
Weight Conversions lbs. to oz.
Weight Conversions lbs. to oz.
0.01 pounds = 0.16 ounces
- 0.1 pounds = 1.6 ounces
- 0.25 pounds = 4 ounces
- 0.5 pounds = 8 ounces
- 0.75 pounds = 12 ounces
- 1.00 pounds = 16 ounces
Prairie sundrops develops quickly in spring and flowers near the start of summer. Later dormancy changes its appearance, so combine it with plants that provide interest afterward.
For Oenothera pilosella, choose full sun and moist soil. Recorded habitats include moist to mesic black-soil prairies; Pothole marsh margins. Reported height: up to 2 ft.
Growth habit: rhizomatous perennial that readily forms colonies on disturbed ground; can spread aggressively in gardens. Allow room for this spreading habit beside smaller plants and narrow borders. Keep the planting edge accessible so you can manage growth beyond the intended area.
Plant specifications & ecological relationships
Key growing facts
| Sunlight | Full sun |
|---|---|
| Soil moisture | Moist |
| Height | Up to 2 ft |
| Bloom season | Late spring or early summer |
Show / hide ▾Growing & planting details
| Growth habit | Rhizomatous perennial that readily forms colonies on disturbed ground; can spread aggressively in gardens |
|---|---|
| Root form | Rhizomes |
| Soil pH | 5.8–7.2 |
| Drought tolerance | Tolerates some drought during its later-season dormant phase |
| Salt tolerance | None |
Plant identification & seed reference
| Botanical name | Oenothera pilosella |
|---|---|
| Other common names | prairie sundrops |
| Seed germination | USDA lists cold stratification as not required; seed-lot response may vary. |
| Plant family | Onagraceae |
| Seeds per pound — reference estimate | 700000 |
Plant characteristics
Oenothera pilosella, or Prairie Sundrops, is a charming perennial with low-growing, finely-haired foliage and bright yellow flowers that open during daylight hours. Easily grown in wet to mesic prairies, it is an ideal choice for home gardens, often found along with Anemone canadensis, Galium obtusum, and Lilium michiganense.
- Width: 8" – 12"
- Flower Color yellow
- Flower Time: June, July, August
Show / hide ▾Plant communities & associates
Illinois plant communities
Mesic black-soil prairie — central Illinois
Recorded at Loda Cemetery Prairie (Iroquois County). INHS identifies these sites as remnants of this community.
Selected native plants from the same remnant records:
- Sorghastrum nutans
- Andropogon gerardii
- Sporobolus heterolepis
- Eryngium yuccifolium
- Silphium laciniatum
- Parthenium integrifolium
These inventories include edges and disturbed patches. Shared remnant records do not establish that every plant grows together in one microsite.
Show / hide ▾Native range & C-value
| Wetland indicator — NWPL 2022 Midwest | FAC |
|---|---|
| C-value — Chicago region, Flora 2017 | 10 |
| Chicago-region native — Flora 2017 | Yes |
| Native range — U.S. states | Alabama; Arkansas; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kentucky; Louisiana; Michigan; Mississippi; Missouri; New York; Ohio; Oklahoma; Pennsylvania; Tennessee; Virginia; West Virginia; Wisconsin |
| County nativity | Not yet verified; occurrence records do not establish nativity. |
Show / hide ▾Pollinators & wildlife
Caterpillars & other plant-feeding insects
This plant has published caterpillar host records for the butterflies and moths listed below. These are larval feeding relationships, separate from adult nectar visits. The records span a North American literature compilation and do not establish that every insect occurs locally or uses only this plant.
Moths
- Mompha albocapitella — White-Based Mompha
- Mompha argentimaculella
Show / hide ▾Frequently asked questions
What are the ideal growing conditions for Prairie Sundrops?
Oenothera pilosella performs best in full sun with mesic (prairies & open meadows) conditions. It thrives in authentic regional soil types ranging from sandy loam to well-drained clay loams.
How do I germinate and establish Prairie Sundrops from seed?
Seed of Oenothera pilosella has a germination code of Code A (no pre-treatment required). Seeds can be sown directly in spring into warm, prepared soil.
Is Prairie Sundrops deer and herbivore resistant?
Yes. Native plants adapted to Midwestern habitats naturally produce protective secondary compounds and fibrous textures that make them highly resistant to deer, rabbits, and other grazing herbivores.
When should I expect Prairie Sundrops to emerge and bloom?
Established plants break dormancy in spring as soil temperatures warm, developing vigorous foliage before blooming in their seasonal window to provide vital nectar when native pollinators need it most.
Show / hide ▾Sources & ecological notes
Illinois community evidence: INHS — three mesic black-soil prairie remnants, compiled from Shildneck, Robertson and Taft records. Source native flags and named sites support the selected remnant records. Full mixed inventories are retained in the research database; source C-values are not substituted for the Flora benchmark.
Chicago-region assessment: Wilhelm & Rericha (2017), Flora of the Chicago Region, via Kenneth Johnson’s Universal FQA dataset (2018). Chicago-region native status is separate from U.S. nativity.
The C-value and Chicago-region native status shown here also agree with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chicago Region FQA dataset (2017), distributed through the USACE/ERDC fqadata package under CC0.
Flora of the Chicago Region (2017) records this taxon as native in the Chicago region.
The state list describes native botanical distribution. It does not establish county nativity or occurrence, suitability for every site, or the origin of the plants and seeds offered here. An unlisted state is not proof of absence.
Range data: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; 4 June 2026 release, accessed 7 September 2026. © The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. CC BY 3.0; selected and reformatted. Kew cannot warrant the quality or accuracy of these data. This use has no Kew endorsement.
State and county nativity: The state list uses WCVP records marked native, excluding introduced, extinct and doubtful records. County nativity has not yet been verified for this listing. Presence in a county or preserve does not establish nativity there.
Preserve records: INHS inventories of Loda, Prospect and Weston prairies, compiled principally from records by Paul Shildneck, Kenneth R. Robertson and John Taft. Selected occurrence facts regrouped by Natural Communities; inventory native flags and 1997 Illinois C-values are not used for the assessments on this page.
Available Flora-linked Chicago assessments remain controlling. These regional ecology accounts supplement evidence not available for direct reuse from the Flora; they are not represented as Chicago Flora association lists.
Caterpillar host records: Shropshire, K.J. & Tallamy, D.W. (2025), Lepidoptera of North America, Supplement 1. Contains information from this database made available under the Open Database License (ODbL 1.0). Natural Communities selected species-level records and screened source qualifications. The complete selection and transformation instructions for this page are available below under the same license.
C-value source: Flora of the Chicago Region (2017), Universal FQA database 80. Matched source taxon: Oenothera pilosella. Exact.
Sources checked September 5, 2026. Regional assessments and growing observations apply to their stated settings. Unverified fields are omitted; missing information does not mean an ecological relationship is absent.
- Illinois Wildflowers — John Hilty. Limited botanical facts presented in Natural Communities’ own wording. Source-specific observations retain their stated scope; photographs, original descriptive prose and compiled relationship tables are excluded. Supports: Bloom Season; Drought Tolerance; Height; Opening botanical description; Primary Native Habitats; Root Architecture & Depth; Soil Moisture Range; Spread Habit; Sun Exposure; Sunlight Exposure.
- Universal FQA — Flora-linked Chicago database 80. Taxonomic names, family and regional nativity originally checked against Kenneth Johnson’s Flora-linked database 80 (2018), citing Wilhelm & Rericha (2017). Limited factual identification only; the C-value follows this Flora-linked database wherever an exact or documented synonym match is available. Supports: Alternate Common Names; Botanical Name; Chicago-region native status; Plant Family.
- USACE/ERDC fqadata — Chicago Region FQA 2017. Herman, B., Sliwinski, R. & Whitaker, S. (2017), Chicago Region FQA Calculator; distributed by USACE/ERDC in fqadata under CC0. Values may differ from Flora of the Chicago Region (2017). CC0 dedication. Retained for comparison; the displayed C-value follows Flora database 80.
- USDA NRCS PLANTS — taxon profile and characteristics. USDA NRCS PLANTS Database, checked September 5, 2026. Numeric and categorical taxon-level facts only; no photographs or third-party guide prose reproduced. Supports: Germination Code; Salt Tolerance; Seeds per pound — USDA reference estimate; Soil pH Range.
- USACE National Wetland Plant List 2022 — Midwest. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2022 National Wetland Plant List, Midwest region; effective February 13, 2024. Federal data. Supports: Wetland Indicator Status.
- Smith et al. (2025) — pollen-host literature dataset. Smith, C., Bachelder, N., Russell, A.L., Morales, V., Mosher, A.R. & Seltmann, K.C. (2025), Oecologia 207:13, DOI 10.1007/s00442-024-05653-5. Data release 14757220, CC BY 4.0; selected genus-level pollen-host records from russell_formatted-15Aug2024.csv summarized. Family records and model predictions excluded; no endorsement implied. CC BY 4.0. Supports: Genus-level pollen-host records: Eucera speciosa.
Flora rating attribution: Kenneth Johnson (2018), Flora of the Chicago Region UFQA Database, following Gerould Wilhelm and Laura Rericha (2017), Flora of the Chicago Region: A Floristic and Ecological Synthesis. Individual rating facts are presented with original commentary; the calculator’s software license is not treated as a license for the underlying Flora publication.
The linked Illinois plant relationships were reconciled with INHS-hosted source inventories on September 6, 2026. Same-remnant pairs were calculated from shared named-site occurrences and organized for this catalog; they are not copied narrative descriptions or proof of microsite compatibility.
Source names are retained where a current name or product match has not been verified.
Reusable research data
{"title":"Natural Communities selected host records for Oenothera pilosella","source":"Shropshire, K.J. & Tallamy, D.W. (2025). Lepidoptera of North America, north of Mexico: an annotated list containing geographic ranges and host-plant records. Supplement 1.","source_doi":"https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1261.160796.suppl1","download":"https://binary.pensoft.net/file/1478226","source_sha256":"250a11ec19c89f81374af3bc632f6897491cbe540edb09ccdaf298dc73bf9472","license":"ODbL-1.0","license_url":"https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/","method":"Complete machine-readable selection and alteration file under ODbL section 4.6(b). In source worksheet UDELep May 2025, select only rows whose column A UDLepID appears in selection. Each selection entry contains [retained source plant names, selected insect IDs]. Create one record per selected ID and retained plant name; these are reported larval hosts. Scientific insect name is the first two whitespace-separated tokens of column H; common name is E; source category is AB. Other source fields are unchanged and are not part of this derived table. No other rows or host pairs are used on this page. Group Butterfly and Skipper categories together, and other categories as moths; retain exotic category labels. Display names are sorted by scientific insect name.","plant":"Oenothera pilosella","scope":"Host literature synthesis; no county nativity or local insect occurrence inferred.","selection":[[["Oenothera pilosella"],["208429","208431"]]]}
Plant Shipping & Care
Plant Shipping & Care
We want to ensure that our customers get what they want, a native backyard oasis. To do that, we need to follow a few simple guidelines and give you some information and pointers to make sure you get your plants delivered in a healthy state.
As a reminder, you will receive an email to confirm your pickup or shipping window just before the plants are ready. See Order Fulfillment below for seasonal fulfillment windows.
Choices to Receive Your Plants & Accessories
- Retail - We only offer shipping & shipping is calculated at check out*
- We do not offer retail pick up
- Wholesale - Delivery is customized based on order size and location
- Wholesale - Pickup is free
Order Fulfilment - When Your Plants or Other Items Will Be Ready
We take orders all year long and seed is shipped all year, but we only provide the plants to you in certain fulfillment windows to ensure healthy plants.
Wholesale Orders
- Shipped or are Ready For Pick Up As Requested.
Retail & Website Orders
- Seed Typically Ships Out Within One Week Of Order All Year Long
- Typically, single species flats ship when ready, sometimes as soon as early to mid-April (depends on weather) through early-October.
- Mixed species kits are batched and shipped as indicated on the product page.
- If a plant order is placed while outside of the plant fulfillment window your plants will be reserved through your payment, however, the order will not be fulfilled and shipped until the following spring. We don't want to provide you plants when they won't be happy during the cold winter months.
- Early in the spring and later in the fall certain species may be dormant or partially dormant with brown leaves, however they will return to grow healthy next growing season.
- Your order may arrive in several different shipments.
- If certain plants within an order will not be available until a later date, we may choose to hold the full order until all are ready. In certain circumstances, we may choose to send them in two separate shipments
- Fulfillment is always dependent upon plant availability. We try our best but sometimes plants do not overwinter well and perish. If a plant is on back order you will receive an email indicating the estimated shipping date. If we can not provide the plant we will first notify you and give you an option of substitution or a refund of that individual species.
- Plants are typically only packaged and shipped on Mondays to ensure they do not sit in the harsh delivery facility for extended periods of time over the weekend. You will receive a confirmation email once your delivery has been shipped and to estimate your delivery date.
- Apparel & accessories are ready typically within one to two weeks. See product page for holiday shipping.
Where We Ship
What to Expect When Receiving Your Delivery
- Your plants will be packaged with the utmost care
- We will need to cut back certain plants prior to shipping. This seems counter-intuitive, however, the fewer leaves the less water the plants can lose during shipping, resulting in healthier plants for you. This also enables the plants to fit within the protective packaging and shipped safely.
Shipments
- Larger plant shipments will look similar to the picture below with a tray of your plants and a cardboard box to protect them during shipping.
What to Do With Your Plants After Receiving Your Delivery
- Unpack your order IMMEDIATELY
- Inspect for damage and report any issues immediately to Natives@NaturalCommunities.net
- Water your plants
- Install your plants as quickly as possible and water the entire garden area thoroughly
- If you cannot install your plants immediately
- Some plants may not be in a container, put them into some kind of a container such as a paper cup with loose soil until installation
- Make sure each plant is receiving the appropriate amount of light.
- Continue to water daily each morning and possibly again in the afternoon
- No additional fertilizer is needed
Seed Shipping & Care
Seed Shipping & Care
There is a minimum order requirement of $30 for each seed species. Seed ships all year and typically ships within a week of an order being placed.
We have attempted to put together some basic information regarding native seed installation, establishment, and maintenance. We hope you find it helpful. If you need further assistance on native seed establishment, please schedule a free consolation call here.
Consultation Services
Ecosystem Restoration Considerations
Native Seed Establishment Best Management Practices
Native Seed Stratification Best Management Practices
Solving a Site Problem? Get Expert Advice + Get Store Credit
Whether you're fighting severe erosion, replacing invasive species, designing a pollinator haven, or seeding large acreage, choosing the wrong species wastes time and money. Talk 1-on-1 with a restoration ecologist to map out the exact species, plug counts, or seed mixes for your soil and goals. Book a consultation and get all or a portion credited directly back to your order.