Wednesday's Wildflower: Southern Beeblossom, Oenothera simulans
Submitted by Jean Evoy, a 30-year veteran of FNPS. She has been active in several chapters including Miami-Dade, Serenoa, and Mangrove. Southern Bee Blossom flower, photo by Jean Evoy Southern Beeblossom is a common wildflower of roadsides, fields, dunes and open woods in Florida. It used to be called Gaura angustifolia , but a few years ago the evening primrose family underwent extensive revisions and G. angustifolia , was renamed Oenothera simulans along with several other species of that were included in the genus Gaura. Crimson moth larva, J Evoy Southern Beeblossom has slender, branched, hairy stems that may reach six feet. The leaves are reduced on the upper parts of the plant and tiny flowers are found near the ends of wand-like stems. The flowers are white when they open in the evening. They become pinkish the following day before withering. As the name beeblossom indicates, the flowers are attractive to many insects, including be...