E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Oenothera suffrutescens
scarlet gaura
Onagraceae (Evening Primrose family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Neil L. Jennings  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #9014)

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Distribution of Oenothera suffrutescens
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Species Information

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General:
Perennial herb from woody stem-base; stems decumbent to erect, 20-60 cm long, several to many, simple to branched above, usually minutely short-hairy and with some long, spreading hairs, sometimes nearly glabrous.
Leaves:
Oblong-lanceolate to lanceolate, 1.5-3 (3.5) cm long, entire or coarsely wavy-toothed, minutely hairy, reduced upward; unstalked.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a many-flowered terminal spike, 5-20 cm long, bracts 2-5 mm long; flowers somewhat bilaterally symmetric; hypanthium slender, 4-13 mm long; petals 3-8 mm long, with narrow claw and oval to diamond-shaped blade, pinkish or red to nearly white; sepals distinct, sharply reflexed, 5-10 mm long; stamens usually 8; filaments 3-5 mm long, often with a scale at the base; anthers 3-5 mm long; styles slightly longer than the stamens; stigma lobes 4, short, oval.
Fruits:
Nut-like, erect, somewhat diamond-shaped, 4-angled, somewhat winged on upper half, 4-9 mm long, glabrous to hairy, 1- to 4-seeded; stalks short, thick.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry shrublands in the steppe zone; rare in S BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; E to MB and S to MX.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Gaura coccinea Nutt. ex Pursh

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References