Flora of North America species comparison

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Mirabilis jalapa

Mirabilis pudica

four o'clock, four o'clock flower, four o'clock umbrella-wort, marvel of peru, wishbone bush

bashful four o'clock
Habit Herbs, forming upright columnar clumps 3–5 dm diam., glabrous or densely pubescent.
Stems

3–6 dm.
Leaves

strongly ascending;

petioles of proximal leaves 0.3–0.5 cm;

blades of midstem leaves ovate to narrowly ovate, 3.5–6 × 2–3 cm, base acute to rounded, symmetric, apex acute.
Involucres

peduncle 6–10 mm;

involucres pendent, 12–21 mm;

bracts 5, 50% connate, apex acute to widely ovate.
Flowers

6 per involucre;

perianth usually creamy white, 1.2–1.5 cm.
Fruits

dark brown, with 10 slender, tan ribs occasionally evident at base, ellipsoid, 7–8 mm, smooth, glabrous, not secreting mucilage when wetted.
2n

= 66.

Mirabilis jalapa

Mirabilis pudica
Phenology Flowering mid spring–early summer.
Habitat Calcareous hills and flats in arid brushlands
Elevation 1000-1500 m (3300-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
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]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NV
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (1 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 42. FNA vol. 4, p. 44.
Parent taxa Nyctaginaceae > Mirabilis > sect. Mirabilis Nyctaginaceae > Mirabilis > sect. Quamoclidion
Sibling taxa
M. albida, M. alipes, M. austrotexana, M. coccinea, M. gigantea, M. glabra, M. greenei, M. laevis, M. latifolia, M. linearis, M. longiflora, M. macfarlanei, M. melanotricha, M. multiflora, M. nyctaginea, M. oxybaphoides, M. pudica, M. rotundifolia, M. tenuiloba, M. texensis
M. albida, M. alipes, M. austrotexana, M. coccinea, M. gigantea, M. glabra, M. greenei, M. jalapa, M. laevis, M. latifolia, M. linearis, M. longiflora, M. macfarlanei, M. melanotricha, M. multiflora, M. nyctaginea, M. oxybaphoides, M. rotundifolia, M. tenuiloba, M. texensis
Subordinate taxa
M. jalapa var. jalapa
Synonyms M. pudica var. pubescens
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 177. (1753) Barneby: Leafl. W. Bot. 3: 175. (1942)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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