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small-flowered gaura, velvet weed, velvetweed

Habit Annual from a taproot, the stem single, simple below and branched above, 0.2-2 m. tall, puberulent, but also with soft, spreading hairs 2 mm. long.
Leaves

Leaves alternate, the basal leaves spatulate, the lower cauline leaves oblong, the others oblong-lanceolate to lanceolate, 4-15 cm. long, entire to wavy-dentate, gradually reduced upward to very small, linear floral bracts.

Flowers

Inflorescence of many-flowered spikes, 1-3 dm. long;

calyx tube very slender, 2-3 mm. long, with 4 distinct, reflexed lobes 2-3 mm. long;

petals 4, short-clawed, pinkish, 2 mm. long;

stamens 8, filaments without basal scales;

ovary inferior, 4-celled.

Fruits

Fruit hardened, 6-10 mm. long, spindle-shaped, glabrous, 4-angled by not winged.

Oenothera howardii

Oenothera curtiflora

Flowering time June-September
Habitat Meadows, stream banks, roadsides, sandy or rocky slopes, often where disturbed.
Distribution
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; south-central Washington to eastern Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona, east to North Dakota,, Iowa, and Louisiana; introduced in California and the eastern U.S., South America, Asia, and Australia.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Introduced from the central U.S.
Conservation status Not of concern
Sibling taxa
O. biennis, O. cespitosa, O. curtiflora, O. elata, O. flava, O. glazioviana, O. pallida, O. suffrutescens
O. biennis, O. cespitosa, O. elata, O. flava, O. glazioviana, O. pallida, O. suffrutescens
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