Scarlet butterfly weed

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Scarlet gaura

Scarlet gaura

Scarlet gaura

Scarlet gaura inflorescence

Scarlet gaura

Scarlet gaura

Scarlet gaura

Scarlet gaura

Scarlet gaura

Scarlet gaura

Morphology

Stem

Erect to ascending, several to many, slender, branched at bases, densely short-hairy or nearly glabrous.

Leaves

Alternate, simple, mostly sessile, linear to lanceolate or narrowly elliptic, .25 to 2.25 inches long, less than .5 inch wide, minutely pubescent; margins entire or shallow-toothed; tips pointed or blunt.

Inflorescence

Racemes, spike-like, 2 to 16 inches long.

Flower

Sepals 4, linear; flowers sessile, initially white, fading pink or red; petals 4, to .25 inch long, clawed; stamens 8, anthers yellow to red; stigma deeply 4-lobed.

Fruit

Capsules, nutlike, cylindric, narrowed above; seeds 1-4, tiny, reddish brown.

Ecology

Habitat

Dry prairies, open wooded hillsides, roadsides, and stream valleys.

Distribution

West 2/3 of Kansas.

Practical Information

Uses

The Lakota Sioux rubbed this plant on their hands to make them sticky to aid in catching horses, and the Navajo used a cold tea made from scarlet gaura to settle children's upset stomachs.

Additional Notes