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Biennial beeblossom

Oenothera gaura

Also called Biennial Bee Blossom, Biennial Gaura, Biennial Evening Primrose

Biennial beeblossom
Photo: Frank Mayfield from Chicago area, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0
Family
Onagraceae (Evening-primrose family)
Grows as
Annual
Native range
S. Ontario to NC. & E. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

Oenothera gaura, formerly known as Gaura biennis, the biennial gaura or biennial beeblossom, is a North American flowering plant that can reach 6 ft (1.8 m) in height at maturity. Its upper half is made up of flowering stems, which are covered with soft, white hairs. It has light pink colored flowers, which turn a vibrant red/pink color in the late summer to early fall seasons (typically August to September). These colors make this plant attractive to butterflies and bees, and are in full bloom just before many fall plant species begin to bloom.

Research has been done in order to test the hybridization between different species of the section Oenothera sect. Gaura and to describe why many members of this group are so similar morphologically. According to Carr et al., readily crossbreeds with Gaura longiflora (now called Oenothera filiformis), and showed it is a direct derivative from G.

Where it grows

Biennial gaura naturally occurs throughout eastern and central North America, and extends as far north as Quebec, Canada. Some of the states in the U.S. it can be found in include: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, Texas, and Virginia.

Other Oenothera plants

Whitest evening primrose · California Evening Primrose · Evening Primrose · Common evening primrose · Tufted Evening Primrose · Woolly Beeblossom · Cleland's evening primrose · Crownleaf evening primrose · Velvetweed · Antioch Dunes evening primrose · Birdcage evening primrose · Oenothera dodgeniana

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Oenothera gaura by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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