Evening Primrose
(Oenothera sp. )

Like the moon flower, the evening primrose opens in the evening and is moth-pollinated (probably hawk moths). The individual flowers are only around for a day or so, usually withering the day after opening. The primrose flower opens very quickly as sunset approaches. The flower shown here began to show yellow petals appearing as the sepals first started to separate about an hour before the movie starts. The movie shows the following 46 min period compressed to about 9 sec, during which the petals unfurl. Images for this movie were captured at 30 sec intervals and are played back at 10 fps.