Japanese name: ハクチョウソウ（白蝶草） Scientific name:Gaura lindheimeri
[Overview]
A perennial 50–100 cm tall.
The whole plant is covered with soft hairs, and the stem branches.
There are both basal leaves and stem leaves.
The leaves on the stem are simple and alternate, lanceolate, about 1–9 cm long and 0.1–1 cm wide, with toothed serrations on the margins.
A spike or raceme 10–80 cm long emerges at the stem tip or in the leaf axils.
The flowers are 4-petaled, 2–3 cm across, and bilaterally symmetrical; they are white at first but take on a pink tinge as they open further.
There are 8 long stamens with red anthers.
There is 1 pistil, longer than the stamens, with a tip divided into 4 lobes.
Each flower lasts only one day, but flowers open one after another until the time of frost.
The fruit is a woody capsule.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by division, shoot cuttings, or from seed.
It also multiplies readily from self-sown seed.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained, well-ventilated place.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
Fertilizer is not particularly necessary for plants in the ground, but for potted plants, place slow-release fertilizer on the soil once a month during the growing season.
Gray mold can occur.
[Notes]
The Japanese name compares the shape of the flower to a butterfly.
