Oenothera Species, Lizard Tail, Velvety Gaura, Velvetweed, Willow Gaura

I have this Lizardtail guara growing naturally in my southern Utah yard near the Arizona boarder.
Yard is hard pack sand. Elevatio...Read Moren near 5000 feet. Temps range from 10 to 100 degrees.
No flowering as of late April.
My first spring in this area.

Weedy but limited to disturbed alien scrub (former pasture). Does not need much water, exposed to lots of sun and salt spray. Recovers ...Read Moreeasily from mowing.

Lizardtail Gaura (Gaura mollis) has erect stems and usually attains a height of between 4-6 feet (usually shorter than 6 feet); however, ...Read Moreit 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.