Plant Image
Leaves


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Oenothera curtiflora - velvetweed

Synonyms: Gaura parviflora, Gaura micrantha, Gaura mollis,, Gaura parviflora var. lachnocarpa
Other Common Names: lizard tail, velvet weed, smallflowered gaura, velvety gaura, willow gaura
Plant Form: Forb or Subshrub

Family: Onagraceae


   
 
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Leaves
Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org
Plant
University of Arizona Herbarium, Usage Rights: CC BY-NC (Attribution-Non-Commercial)
Forb Plant Description

Origin: Native   Life Cycle: Biennial or annual
General Desc: Tall, erect; stout taproot; stem solitary, erect, branching near the top; herbage clothed in soft long hairs, sometimes glandular; leaves alternate on stems and in a basal cluster; flowers small, white to pink, slightly asymmetrical in elongated clusters.
Identification notes: Tall, robust annual, to 6 feet tall; distinguished by being densely glandular-hairy, foliage feels velvety to the touch; leaves slightly wavy and toothed; the flower spike is long, often drooping and crowded with small white to pink flowers with no stems.
Height: 1 to 6 feet


Habitat

Habitat Description: Found in weedy habitats such as fields, pastures, and stream sides, often in waste places.
Plant Communities: Riparian, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 1000 - 7000 feet


Flower Characteristics

Color: White to pink, fades to red     Shape: Irregular in elongated clusters     Tubular: Y     Flowering Period: Jun - Oct
Description: Small, self-pollinating flowers that are slightly asymmetrical, arranged in elongated many-flowered spikes at branch tips; flowers tubular, sepals 4, reflexed (pointed downward) at full flower, 1/8 inch long.


Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Leaf Color: Green     Leaf Type: Simple     Leaf Shape: Narrow     Leaf Margin: Toothed     Leaf Attachment: Basal and alternate     Leaves Clasp: N
Hairs: Leaves and stems     Spines: N
Leaf Description: Leaves alternate along the stems and in basal clusters; blades lance-like to narrowly oval, to 5 inches long, 2 to 4 inches wide, margins often lined with small teeth near the tip of the leaf, closely and minutely covered with short white hairs.


Fruit and Seed Characteristics

Fruit Type: Capsule
Fruit Notes: Capsule woody, to 4 inches long, spindle-shaped to lance-like, 4-angled, tapering to a slender base; surface smooth to short-hairy; not splitting open to release the 1 to 4 oval-shaped seeds.


  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailForb.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson  
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