Cutleaf evening primrose is most often a biennial or winter annual, but may rarely occur as a summer annual. It has leaves with deeply toothed margins and produces many bright yellow or red flowers. Leaves initially develop as a basal rosette. Mature leaves may have hairs on the upper leaf surfaces but are without hairs below. Leaf shapes are primarily lanceolate, relatively narrow and have deeply toothed margins. Leaves also have a distinctive white midvein. Stems can be either prostrate or erect, hairy and usually reddish in color. Erect stems may grow to be 32 inches in height. Flowers occur in the upper leaf axils and are without flower stems. The flowers of cutleaf evening primrose occur at the end of a long tube and are either red or yellow in color.
