by Kyle Christie,
Native Plants of Arizona 2003
Common names: spreading four-o'clock, smooth spreading four-o'clock
(1, 2).
Family: Nyctaginaceae (1)
Synonymy: Allioniella oxybaphoides (Gray) Rydb. (1),
Quamoclidon oxybaphoides Gray (9).
Etymology: Mirabilis translates into "wonderful, extraordinary,
or astonishing" (3). Oxybaphoides means Oxybaphus-like, referring
to a related genus within the Nyctaginaceae.
Identification
Growth form: Herbaceous perennial, stems ascending to decumbent,
forming clumps of up to 120 cm in diameter, light green in color (4).
Roots: Thick caudex.
Stem: Stems are ascending to decumbent, much branched, 30 to
60 cm in length, with swollen nodes, clump forming, light green in color,
viscid pubescent to glabrous (4).
Leaves: Petiolate, deltoid to ovate, 1 to 5 cm in length/width,
usually with an asymmetrically cordate base, acuminate apex, light green,
usually conspicuously viscid pubescent to occasionally glabrous (4).
Inflorescence/flowers: Inflorescence solitary in axils and cymose
at the ends of branches (4). Flowers apetalous, sepals petaloid, bracts
sepaloid and forming a subtending involucre (8). Involucre 5 to 6 mm,
subrotate, deeply 5 cleft, usually subtending several pedicillate flowers.
Often however, only one flower is at anthesis at a given time; giving
the appearance of a single flower per involucre. Calyx (appears as corolla)
7 to 9 mm, 5 lobed, lobes usually 2 cleft, purple to magenta to red
(4). Anthers conspicuously yellow.
Fruit: Anthocarp (an achene enveloped by accrescent calyx base)
6 to 8 mm, black, obovoid, smooth to slightly transversely ridged (4,
8).
Similar species: Mirabilis multiflora
Ecology
Life history: Herbaceous perennial (4).
Native/introduced: Native the Southwestern United States (2).
Photosynthetic pathway:
Phenology: Flowers August and September (4). Flowers open in
late afternoon and wither by the following morning (5), hence the common
familial name (Four-O'clock family).
Distribution: Southwestern United States, including Oaklahoma
and Texas, 5,500 to 8,000 feet commonly in Pinyon-Juniper communities
(2, 4, 9).
Uses
Cultivated ornamental. Navajo make dye from boiled "petals"
(6). The Navajo smoke a mixture of Mirabilis and other herbs in traditional
ceremonies (6).
References
1. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (http://www.itis.usda.gov).
2. USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5. (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70874-4490 USA.
3. Gledhill, D. 2002. The Names of Plants. 3rd Edition. Cambridge University
Press. Cambridge, England.
4. McDougal, W.B. 1973. Seed Plants of Northern Arizona, The Museum
of Northern Arizona. Flagstaff, Arizona.
5. Epple, A. O. 1995. A Field Guide to the Plants of Arizona. Falcon
Publishing. Helena, Mountana.
6. Elmore, F.H.
1943 (1978). Ethnobotany of the Navajo. A Monograph of the University
of New Mexico and The School of American Research. University of New
Mexico Press.
7. Busco J. and Morin N.R. 2003. Native Plants for High Elevation Western
Gardens. Fulcrum Publishing. Golden, Colorado. Published in partnership
with the Arboretum at Flagstaff.
8. Zomlefer, W. 1994. Flowering Plant Families. The University of North
Carolina Press. Chapel Hill and London.
9. Welsh, S. et al. 1987. A Utah Flora. Great Basin Naturalist Memoir No. 9, 1987. Brigham Young University.
