The Evening Primrose (Oenothera elata ssp. hirsutissima) is one of the most fascinating plants in the park. It took me years to finally sit down and watch one until it opened. I was in the driveway, watching, but the truck was in my field of vision, so it was bumming me out. So I hopped in the truck, moved it ten feet and I'll be damned if the flower hadn't blossomed. So the next night, I sat there watching without interruption and was amazed to see the blossom go from closed to 99% open in about a second and half. I took about 70 pictures for a time lapse over 16 minutes.

The Evening Primrose is hawkmoth pollinated, so it waits until night is upon it to open rather than wasting its nectar attracting day fliers. That said, I've seen a bee so laden with pollen flying around Evening Primrose that it was having trouble flying right. When it bumped against it, the bee dropped its pollen sacs and I was able to harvest and taste just a little of that fresh bee pollen straight from the Evening Primrose.