Gaura is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s in the family Onagraceae

Onagraceae

Onagraceae, also known as the Willowherb family or Evening Primrose family, are a family of flowering plants. The family includes about 640-650 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees in 20-24 genera...

, native to North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. The genus includes many species known commonly as beeblossoms. Recent genetic research has shown that the genus is paraphyletic

Paraphyly

A group of taxa is said to be paraphyletic if the group consists of all the descendants of a hypothetical closest common ancestor minus one or more monophyletic groups of descendants...

 unless the monotypic genus Stenosiphon is included within Gaura, increasing the number of species in the genus to 22.

They are annual

Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...

, biennial

Biennial plant

A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months. Usually the stem remains very short and the leaves are low to the ground, forming...

 or perennial

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

 herbaceous

Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...

 plants; most are perennials with sturdy rhizome

Rhizome

In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...

s, often forming dense thickets, crowding or shading out other plant species. They have a basal rosette of leaves, with erect or spreading flowering stems up to 2 m (rarely more) tall, leafy on the lower stem, branched and leafless on the upper stem. The flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s have four (rarely three) petals; they are zygomorphic, with all the petals directed somewhat upwards. The fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

 is an indehiscent nut-like body containing reddish-brown seed

Seed

A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

s. It reproduces via seeds and also by rhizome growth.

Species

Gaura angustifolia Gaura biennis Gaura boquillensis Gaura brachycarpa Gaura calcicola Gaura coccinea Gaura coccinea Gaura coccinea is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by several common names, including scarlet beeblossom, scarlet gaura, and linda tarde. It is native to much of North America, especially the western and central sections. It can be found in many habitats, and is... Gaura demareei Gaura drummondii Gaura drummondii Gaura drummondii is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common names Drummond's beeblossom and scented gaura. It is native to Mexico and its range extends into Texas. It can be found in parts of the southern and southwestern United States where it is an... Gaura filipes Gaura hexandra Gaura lindheimeri

Gaura linifolia (syn. Stenosiphon linifolius) Gaura longiflora Gaura macrocarpa Gaura mckelveyae Gaura parviflora Gaura parviflora Gaura parviflora is a species of Gaura native to the central United States and northern Mexico, from Nebraska and Wyoming south to Durango and Nuevo Leon.It is an annual plant growing to 0.2–2 m tall, unbranched, or if branched, only below the flower... (syn. G. mollis) Gaura mutabilis Gaura neomexicana Gaura neomexicana Gaura neomexicana is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name New Mexico beeblossom. It is native to the west central United States.... Gaura sinuata Gaura sinuata Gaura sinuata is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common names wavyleaf beeblossom and Red River gaura. It is native to Mexico and its native range extends as far north into the United States as Oklahoma. It can be found across the southern half of the United... Gaura suffulta Gaura triangulata Gaura villosa

Several species of Gaura are regarded as noxious weeds, especially in disturbed or overgrazed areas where it easily takes hold. They can become a nuisance in situations involving disturbed habitat, such as trampled rangeland and clearings. Efforts to control Gaura focus mainly on prevention of misuse of land. There is no biological control

Biological pest control

Biological control of pests in agriculture is a method of controlling pests that relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms...

method for plants of genus Gaura, and removing existing infestations is difficult, due in large part to the plants' ability to reproduce from bits of rhizome left in the ground.

Despite the poor reputation of plants of this genus, some species are cultivated as garden plants, such as G. lindheimeri (White Gaura).