Mirabilis jalapa |
Mirabilis austrotexana |
|
---|---|---|
four o'clock, four o'clock flower, four o'clock umbrella-wort, marvel of peru, wishbone bush |
lonestar four o'clock |
|
Stems | erect, few, moderately leafy mostly in proximal 2/3, few branched, 7–15 dm, glabrous basally, glabrous or sparsely glandular-puberulent distally. |
|
Leaves | ascending at 30–70°, progressively reduced toward inflorescence; petiole 0.3–2 cm; blade green, lanceolate to lance-ovate, 3–12 × 1–5 cm, thick and moderately succulent, base broadly obtuse to cuneate, apex acute or tapered to rounded tip, surfaces glabrous or sparsely pubescent. |
|
Inflorescences | terminal and in upper axils, open, widely branched from main axis; peduncle 5–10 mm, glabrate or sparsely puberulent or spreading viscid-villous, crosswalls of hairs pale; involucres pale green, widely bell-shaped, 4–5 mm in flower, 7–10 mm in fruit, glabrous (except, often, margins) or very sparsely puberulent or villous, 70–80% connate, lobes broadly ovate, rounded. |
|
Flowers | 3 per involucre; perianth pink to reddish purple, rarely white, 0.8–1 cm. |
|
Fruits | brown to grayish or purplish brown, narrowly obovate, 4–5.3 mm, very sparsely pubescent with hairs 0.1–0.5 mm; ribs round-angular, 0.3 times width of sulci, 0.5–1 times as wide as high, smooth on angle, usually rugose on sides, occasionally interrupted and tuberculate; sulci with low tubercules, often also with transverse wrinkles. |
|
Mirabilis jalapa |
Mirabilis austrotexana |
|
Phenology | Flowering primarily spring–fall, occasionally winter. | |
Habitat | Mudflats, sandy or loamy soils | |
Elevation | 0-300 m (0-1000 ft) | |
Distribution |
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CT; DC; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TX; UT; VA; VT; Mexico [Introduced in North America and elsewhere]
|
TX; probably also adjacent Mexico (Tamaulipas) |
Discussion | Varieties 2 (1 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Mirabilis austrotexana is very closely related to, and perhaps only a southern race of, the M. carletonii phase of M. glabra. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 42. | FNA vol. 4, p. 57. |
Parent taxa | Nyctaginaceae > Mirabilis > sect. Mirabilis | Nyctaginaceae > Mirabilis > sect. Oxybaphus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 177. (1753) | B. L. Turner: Phytologia 75: 438, fig. 2. (1994) |
Web links |
|