An upright to widely spreading, soft-hairy, 2-5 ft. perennial
with delicate white flowers in elongated terminal and axillary
clusters. The flowers are four-petaled, in one row on the upward
side, and turn pink with age. Stamens are conspicuously long.
Stems are solitary to several and much-branched in the upper
portion. A large and showy gaura often forming extensive
colonies. Flowers open in early morning. Flower fragrance has
sometimes been compared to cat urine. The genus Gaura is
composed of rather weedy plants, with leaves borne singly on the
stems and frequently in a basal rosette. The flowers are in
spikes or racemes, or are branching. They open in the evening.
The 4 petals are on the upper side of the flower, giving it a
slightly bilateral symmetry. There are normally 8 prominent
stamens and 1 pistil; these are on the lower side. The stamens
have reddish-brown anthers. The genus is easily recognized, but
the species are sometimes difficult, due partly to a great deal
of hybridization. The species is n