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Oenothera suffrutescens
Also called Scarlet Bee Blossom, Scarlet Beeblossom, Scarlet Butterfly Plant, Wild Honeysuckle
Scarlet gaura is a native North American perennial herb with woody roots and clumps of slender stems, prized for its butterfly-like white-to-pink flowers. It is tough and adaptable, and it spreads by deep rhizomes, so give it room or plan to control it.
Oenothera suffrutescens (syn. Gaura coccinea) is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known as scarlet beeblossom and scarlet gaura.
Scarlet beeblossom is occasionally grown in wildflower gardens for the resemblance of its flowers to butterflies and the pleaseant scent they produce when blooming. However, some like the author Claude A. Barr dislike that it spreads by deep rhizomes making it difficult to control in a garden setting.
The plant is native to much of North America, especially the western and central sections. It can be found in many habitats and is occasionally seen in urban areas. In 2016 NatureServe assessed Oenothera suffrutescens under the name Gaura coccinea as globally secure (G5).
Common evening primrose · Tufted Evening Primrose · Antioch Dunes evening primrose · Birdcage evening primrose · Beach evening primrose · Hooker's evening primrose · Narrowleaf evening primrose · Redsepal evening primrose · Cutleaf evening primrose · Lindheimer's Beeblossom · Threadleaf evening primrose · Longstem evening primrose
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Oenothera suffrutescens by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
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.
