| Gaura parviflora | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Magnoliophyta |
| Class: | Magnoliopsida |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Onagraceae |
| Genus: | Gaura |
| Species: | G. parviflora |
| Binomial name | |
| Gaura parviflora Dougl. ex Lehm. |
|
Gaura parviflora (syn. G. mollis James; Velvetweed, Velvety Gaura, Downy Gaura, or Smallflower Gaura) is a species of Gaura native to the central United States and northern Mexico, from Nebraska and Wyoming south to Durango and Nuevo Leon.[1]
It is an annual plant growing to 0.2–2 m (rarely 3 m) tall, unbranched, or if branched, only below the flower spikes. The leaves are 2–20 cm long, lance-shaped, and are covered with soft hair. The flower spikes are 20–30 cm long, covered with green flower buds, which open at night or before dawn with small flowers 5 mm diameter with four pink petals.[2][3][4]
The species remains widely known as Gaura parviflora, this name being published in 1832 and for a long time considered the correct name for the species. However, an overlooked but validly published name G. mollis had been published earlier by Thomas Potts James in 1825. A proposal was made to conserve the name G. parviflora over G. mollis,[5] and this was accepted by the International Botanical Congress Committee for Spermatophyta, so G. parviflora remains the correct name.[6] Despite this, the rejected name G. mollis appears in some major sources.[7]
It is naturalized and often invasive in other parts of the United States, and in Australia, China, Japan, and South America.[7][8][9]