Definition

Noun: 1. A large botanical family: "Evening-primrose family" is the common name for a large and widely distributed family of flowering plants, scientifically known as Onagraceae, within the order Myrtales.

Usage Notes

• The term "evening-primrose family" is used in botany, horticulture, and general nature writing to refer collectively to all plants belonging to the family Onagraceae.
• It is a common name, not a scientific one. The formal scientific name is Onagraceae.

Examples

• The evening-primrose family includes many popular garden plants like fuchsias and clarkias.
• Botanists study the evolutionary relationships within the evening-primrose family.
• A key characteristic of the evening-primrose family is that the flower parts (petals, sepals) are often in multiples of four.

Advanced Usage

• The family is named for its type genus, (the evening primroses), which is why the common name references "evening-primrose."

Variants and Related Words

• Onagraceae (n): The formal, scientific Latin name for the evening-primrose family.
• Evening primrose (n): A common name for plants in the genus , which is part of the Onagraceae family.

Synonyms

• Onagraceae (This is the direct synonym, as it is the scientific name for the same plant family).

Different Meanings

• This term has a single, specific meaning in botany. It does not have other common definitions.

Noun

1. a large and widely distributed family of plants of the order Myrtales