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Oenothera simulans (Small)W.L.Wagner & Hoch
Southern Beeblossom
Synonym(s): Gaura angustifolia Michaux
Florida native
A common wildflower of sandhills and disturbed sites found in every Florida county. Outside of Florida the range is mostly limited to the southeastern coastal plain from Mississippi into North Carolina.
This delicate-looking plant has slendar branching stems that are usually hairy (sparsely loose-uncinate to strigose) and growing up to 2m (~6 ft.) tall. Has both leaves in a basal rosette and alternate on the stem. Leaves are narrowly lanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, often with red blotches and with margins sinuate-dentate to nearly entire. Flowers have 3 or 4 pinkish-white petals 4-10mm (up to 4/10 in.) long and 3 or 4 narrow sepals 4-12mm (up to 1/2 in.) long with 6 to 8 stamens.
Oenothera simulans is a member of the Onagraceae - Evening Primrose family.
Other species of the Oenothera genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Oenothera biennis - COMMON EVENINGPRIMROSE
Oenothera fruticosa - SUNDROPS
Oenothera laciniata - CUTLEAF EVENING-PRIMROSE
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
iNaturalist profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Aug 21, 2023
