Texas Gardening: Texas Native Plant Pictures by color ( Pink ), 0 by htop

htop wrote:
Small Flower Gaura, Lizardtail (Lizard Tail, Gaura, Velvetleaf Gaura, Velvetweed, Downy Gaura, (Gaura mollis), Onagraceae Family, Texas native, annual, blooms April through October (sometimes November)

Lizardtail Gaura has erect stems and usually attains a height of between 4-6 feet (usually shorter than 6 feet); however, it can grow up to 9 feet tall. It natively grows on dry, disturbed sites, roadsides, rocky prairie hillsides, waste areas and in open woods. The hairy (velvety) leaves are entire, very green, lanceolate to oblanceolate and up to 8 inches long. They have an ivory colored midvein. The stems have longer and thicker hairs on them than the leaves do. The tiny pink blooms are about 1/4 inch wide with the petals being about 1/8" long. The blooms open at night or before dawn and really show up backlit by early morning or late afternoon sunlight. The flower tubes (hypanthiums) are red. Apex flower stalks (flower spikes) are about1 2" long and have small, tightly packed buds. The blloom stalks are bent or nodding; hence, the common name "lizardtail gaura". The 4-sided fruits are about 1/4" long and they taper to both ends. Some Native American Tribes used the roots to treat snakebites.

Texas Native distribution:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/county?state_name=Texas&statefip...

For more information and lots more photos, see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/78310/index.html

Blooms closup ...