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
Stem: ascending to erect, < 8 dm, broadly forked, clambering or forming clumps, basally woody, [glabrous] scabrous, or glandular-hairy. Leaf: fleshy, hairs 0 or various, often glandular. Inflorescence: involucres in terminal, umbel-like cluster or generally 1 in axils, 3--7 mm, 1(2)-flowered, bracts 5, lobes < tube, +- ovate. Flower: perianth white to magenta, 5--14 mm. Fruit: ovoid, generally dark colored, often spotted, with 10 obscure vertical lines. Note:Mirabilis laevis var. laevis restricted to Mexico.
Mirabilis laevis (Benth.) Curran var. villosa (Kellogg) Spellenb.
NATIVE Stem: (and leaf) glandular-hairy; stems with inflorescences generally branched throughout. Leaf: blade 0.5--4 cm. Inflorescence: involucre bell-shaped, 5--6 mm. Flower: perianth 8--12 mm, widely funnel-shaped, white (pale pink). Fruit: generally +- ovoid, lightly dotted, often mottled, generally with 0 visible lines, rarely 5--10 barely visible lines. Ecology: Rocky places; Elevation: < 2000 m. Bioregional Distribution: W&I, D (esp e D); Distribution Outside California: to Utah, Arizona, northwestern Mexico. Flowering Time: +- all year Synonyms: Mirabilis aspera Greene; Mirabilis bigelovii A. Gray; Mirabilis bigelovii var. aspera (Greene) Munz; Mirabilis bigelovii var. bigelovii 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. retrorsa Next taxon: Mirabilis linearis var. linearis
Citation for this treatment: Andy Murdock 2012, Mirabilis laevis var. villosa, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=80120, accessed on December 03, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on December 03, 2024.
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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 markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month
Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).
