Erect biennial with a rosette of long oval basal leaves. Large evening scented flowers for most of the summer. Roots can be eaten as a vegetable (taste like sweet parsnip), shoots as a salad. The medicinal uses of evening primrose oil are a recent discovery, following scientific research in the 1980s that demonstrated it’s effectiveness for a wide range of complaints. The oil contains gamma-linoleic-acid (GLA), an unsaturated fatty acid, which assist the production of hormone like substances.