Common Name: FOUR O'CLOCK FAMILY Habit: Annual, perennial herb, subshrub, [shrub, tree], glabrous or hairy. Stem: often forked. Leaf: opposite, sessile or petioled, pairs generally unequal; blade generally entire. Inflorescence: generally forked; spike, head-like cluster, or umbel, flowers rarely 1, bracts forming a calyx-like involucre or not. Flower: bisexual, generally +- radial (bilateral), sometimes cleistogamous in some genera; perianth of 1 whorl, generally petal-like, bell- to trumpet-shaped, base hardened, tightly surrounding ovary in fruit, lobes 3--5, generally notched to +- lobed; stamens 1--many; ovary superior (appearing inferior due to hardened perianth base), style 1. Fruit: achene in hardened perianth base; round to +- flat; smooth, angled, ribbed, or winged; glabrous, hairy, or glandular. Genera In Family: 30 genera, 350 species: warm regions, especially America; some ornamental (Bougainvillea; Mirabilis, four o'clock). eFlora Treatment Author: Andy Murdock, except as noted Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Common Name: FOUR O'CLOCK Habit: Perennial herb, subshrub. Stem: repeatedly forked, decumbent to erect. Leaf: generally petioled. Inflorescence: branches ending in umbel-like cluster or solitary flowers; bracts 5(9), +- fused (or not) into calyx-like, bell- to saucer-shaped involucre; flowers in 1 involucre 1--16, generally not blooming together; flowers cleistogamous or not. Flower: radial or +- bilateral; perianth funnel- to bell-shaped, lobes 5; stamens 3--5, generally exserted; stigma +- spheric, generally exserted. Fruit: +- round to club-shaped; ribs or angles 0, 5, 10; wings 0. Etymology: (Latin: wonderful) Note: Flowers open in evening, close in morning; species intergrade, taxonomy unsettled. eFlora Treatment Author: Andy Murdock Reference: Spellenberg 2003 FNANM 4:40--57
Mirabilis linearis (Pursh) Heimerl var. linearis
NATURALIZED Stem: ascending to erect, < 10 dm, glabrous to finely strigose. Leaf: +- sessile; blade 3--10 cm, linear to narrowly lanceolate, +- fleshy, gray-hairy. Inflorescence: broad cyme; involucre cup-shaped, densely glandular-hairy, generally 3-flowered, enlarged, 6--10 mm, papery in fruit; bracts 5, 1/2--2/3 fused. Flower: perianth +- 10 mm, +- funnel-shaped, pale pink to magenta. Fruit: +- 5 mm, club-shaped, hairy, ribs 5, strong, wrinkled between. Ecology: Riverbeds, railroads, roadsides, gravelly places; Elevation: < 300 m. Bioregional Distribution: SCo (Orange, Riverside cos.); Distribution Outside California: native Arizona to central United States, Mexico. Flowering Time: Jul--Oct Note: Cultivated as ornamental; easily confused with Mirabilis coccinea without mature flowers. Jepson eFlora Author: Andy Murdock Reference: Spellenberg 2003 FNANM 4:40--57 Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Previous taxon: Mirabilis laevis var. villosa Next taxon: Mirabilis multiflora
Citation for this treatment: Andy Murdock 2012, Mirabilis linearis var. linearis, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=72913, accessed on January 26, 2025.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2025, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on January 26, 2025.
No expert verified images found for Mirabilis linearis var. linearis.
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(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurrence).
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Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).
