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Pink and Red Wildflower Gallery

Four-O'clock Family

The "flower" is a perianth, which is when calyx and corolla combine together. There are no true petals, but five fused sepals.; The most common Four O'clock types have a long tube with an abrupt flare (like a trumpet). Other species do not have the long tube. Many species of this family bloom in the evening or at night.

The involucre (bract structure) cups the fruit. The bracts act like sepals because the sepals act like petals, which are not there. In some species, the incolucre spreads out to resemble a petal-like saucer after the "petals" drop off. They can be green or white; some are tinted pink or purple.

Each species has a very distinctive fruit (the seed is inside). Some species have only one fruit, others have 2-3. Fruit can be hairy, glabrous (no hairs), ribs, bumps (tubercles), or smooth.

Nyctaginaceae - Four-O"clock family

Four-O'clock (Marvel of Peru) Mirabilis jalapa

Magenta flower about 2" long tube and 3/4" wide, opens in late afternoon. Seed is about 1/4" round. Shrub-like plant grows to about 2 feet tall.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, July 2004

(Native of Texas)

Similar Species

Trailing Four O'clock (Trailing Whidmills, Ant Weed) Allionia incarnata

Flowers are 1/4" long, open in the morning and remain open for most of the day. Color, rose, magenta, white. This plant does not have petals but elongated sepals. Each "flower" is actually a cluster of 3 small flowers. Sprawling perennial that can reach 6 feet across. Leaves are opposite, oval, grayish, thick, and covered with sticky hairs.

(Native of south Texas)

White Four O'clock Mirabilis albida (M. oblongifolia)

(Native of Texas, all but western Panhandle)

Scarlet Four O'clock Mirabilis coccinea (Oxybaphus coccineus)

Flower is not flat and tube is wide. Stamens and pistil very long.

(Native of Texas, Edwards Plateau)

Sweet Four O'clock Mirabilis longiflora var. wrightiana

White with red stamens and pistil

(Native of Texas, Trans Pecos)

Colorado Four O'clock Mirabilis multiflora var. multiflora (Quamoclidion cordifolium, Q. multiflorum)

Bushy plant, short wide leaves of a variety of sizes, pink

(Native of Texas, Edwards Plateau & Trans Pecos)

Nyctaginaceae - Four-O"clock family

? Common Name **zr 2** Mirabilis sp.

This plant was found on a cool foggy morning with the pink petals still attached, but they had fallen off by midday. The 5 petals are deeply notched, 3/4"-1" wide. The fused greenish sepal "petals" are tinged in rose and surround the single seed. Seed is covered in tan scales and has a dark protruding cone. Upright plant with several stems from base, branching at top. Opposite leaves at base and at branching, 2"-3" long, green, lanceolate, folded.

Photos taken in Coleman County, Texas, September 2005

(Native of ?)

Similar Species

Nyctaginaceae - Four-O"clock family

? Common Name **zr 3** Mirabilis sp.

possible  Linearleaf Four O'clock (Narrowleaf Four O'clock) Mirabilis linearis

Missed the petals. The fused greenish sepal "petals" are tinged in rose, about 3/4" wide, and surround three seeds. Light brown seed has five depressed sides (not quite ribs) and is hairy, wider at top. Plant may have been bent in youth so I'm not sure if it is upright or sprawling. Single stem zigzags and branches at nodes.; Opposite leaves along stem and branches are 1"-2" long, gray-green with lighter edge, very linear, folded. This plant grew near a dry gully in full sun, in red clay.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, June 2005

(Native of ?)

Similar Species

Nyctaginaceae - Four-O"clock family

? Common Name **zr 4** Mirabilis sp.

similar to **zr 2** but more robust

Missed the petals. The fused greenish sepal "petals" are lightly tinged in rose, about 3/4" wide, and surround the single seed.; Brown seed has five prominent ribs and is bumpy with tiny hairs. Single stem from base with branching at top. Opposite leaves along stem are 1"-4" long, linear with rounded tip, folded, gray-green with light green edge. No leaves on branches. This plant grew in full sun, in limestone gravel and red clay.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, July 2005

(Native of ?)

Similar Species

Nyctaginaceae - Four-O"clock family

? Common Name **zr 8** Mirabilis sp.

Missed the petals. The fused bright green sepal "petals" are not tinged in rose, about 3/4" wide, and surround the seed, not sure if there were more than one. Light brown seed has five ribs and is hairy, I did not get the dry stage. Upright plant, no branching, has closely spaced opposite leaves, about 3" long, dark green with prominent light green veins and wavy edges, lanceolate. This plant grew in shaded limey sand.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, June 2005

(Native of ?)

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Hunting Similar Species

notes are copied from   www.efloras.org

? Lonestar Four O'clock Mirabilis austrotexana

No photo online

(Native of  south into central Texas)

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.

? Hairy Tuft Four O'clock Mirabilis comata (Allionia comata, Oxybaphus comatus)

Ground cover, pink, sepals are browner?

(Native of Texas)

? Giant Four O'clock Mirabilis gigantea (Allionia gigantea, Oxybaphus giganteus)

No photo online

(Not native to Taylor co. - Dallas & north, some southern co. of Texas)

Stems erect, moderately leafy in proximal 2/3 of plant, few branched distally, 5-20 dm, basally finely pubescent with appressed, curled hairs often in 2 bands or rarely glabrate; distally densely puberulent with appressed, curled hairs. Leaves ascending at 30-45°, progressively reduced toward infloresence; petiole 0.2-1 cm; blade grayish green, ovate to broadly lanceolate or oblong, 5-10.5 × 1.8-8 cm, coriaceous, base cuneate to round, truncate, or cordate, apex usually acute to obtuse, occasionally round, surfaces usually glabrous, sometimes very sparsely puberulent with curved hairs. Inflorescences usually terminal, main axis with short side branches, sometimes short branches present in upper axils; peduncle 5-19 mm, usually densely puberulent with curled hairs, sometimes sparsely so, occasionally spreading-villous, crosswalls of hairs pale; involucres pale green, widely bell-shaped, 4-5 mm in flower, 7-9 mm in fruit, sparsely to densely puberulent with curved hairs, 50-70% connate, lobes ovate. Flowers 3 per involucre; perianth rose-pink to pale pink, 1 cm. Fruits dark grayish brown, narrowly obovoid, 4-5.3 mm, shaggy-pubescent with spreading hairs often tufted on tubercles, hairs 0.3-0.5 mm, also with layer of minute hairs; ribs usually paler, round-angular, 0.5-1 times width of sulci, as wide as high, irregularly notched or tuberculate, often most deeply so near apex; sulci usually with small dark tubercules or raised, horizontal, riblike tubercles.

similar ** zr 4 ** Smooth Four O'clock Mirabilis glabra (Allionia glabra, M. carletonii, M.ciliata, M. exaltata, Oxybaphus glaber)

no good photos on web - wide leaves

(Native of Texas, Taylor north east Panhandle)

Stems erect or ascending, sparsely to moderately leafy mostly in proximal 2/3, narrowly forked, usually with main axis, 5-20 dm, glabrous, glandular-puberulent, or puberulent with curved hairs, when pubescent, hairs usually densest distally. Leaves strongly ascending at 5-25°, progressively reduced toward inflorescence; petiole 0-1.3 cm; blade glaucous or grayish green, linear to narrowly ovate or ovate-oblong, 5-10 × 0.2-7.5 cm, thick and somewhat coriaceous, base attenuate to obtuse, round, truncate, or subcordate, apex acute to obtuse, occasionally round, surfaces glabrous to short pilose. Inflorescences usually terminal, sometimes also with short branches in distal axils, open, with main axis and short branches; peduncle 5-10 mm, usually spreading glandular-pilose, sometimes merely puberulent or glabrous, crosswalls of hairs pale; involucres pale green, widely bell-shaped, 3-6 mm in flower, 7-12 mm in fruit, glabrous except for few small hairs on margins to spreading glandular-pilose, 60-90% connate, lobes broadly ovate, rounded. Flowers 1-3 per involucre; perianth white to pale pink, 0.6-0.9 cm. Fruits grayish to greenish brown (ribs usually paler), narrowly obovate and tapering at both ends, 4-5.5 mm, usually glabrous, sometimes very lightly puberulent with hairs 0.1 mm; ribs narrow and keel-like to acute or acute-rounded, 0.2-0.5 times width of sulci, 0.5 times as wide as high, smooth; sulci lightly to prominently tuberculate. As traditionally treated, Mirabilis carletonii (stems short pilose) and M. exaltata (stems glabrous), both from the eastern portion of the range of M. glabra, have leaves broader than 10 mm. Correlated with this is the presence of two to three flowers in the involucres. The narrower-leaved M. glabra, in the strict sense, has one or occasionally two flowers per involucre.

? Flattop Four O'clock Mirabilis glabrifolia (Allionia corymbosa, M. corymbosa, Oxybaphus corymbosus)

No photo or description online

(Native of  Texas, Edwards Plateau & Trans Pecos)

similar **zr 3** Hairy Four O'clock Mirabilis hirsuta  (Allionia hirsuta, Oxybaphus hirsutus)

2"-4" long narrow leaves, 2 feet tall, covered in short hairs, pink flowers in groups of three, evening bloom

(Native of Texas, eastern Panhandle & Trans Pecos)

possible **zr 3** Linearleaf Four O'clock (Narrowleaf Four O'clock) Mirabilis linearis

long grass-like leaves

(Native of Texas, most of Texas)

Stems decumbent, ascending, or erect, sparsely leafy with few stems to very leafy and bushy branched, leafy primarily in proximal 1/5 to throughout, 1-1.3 dm, basally minutely puberulent in 2 lines, sparsely or densely spreading-hirsute, or rarely glabrate or glabrous; distally minutely puberulent in 2 lines, sparsely or densely spreading-hirsute, or rarely glabrate or glabrous, usually glandular-puberulent or pubescent in inflorescence. Leaves strongly ascending to spreading at 5-80°; petiole 0-1.5 cm; blade green to blue-gray and glaucous, linear to linear-lanceolate, rarely lanceolate, 3-11.5 × 0.1-1(-1.8) cm, thin to fleshy, thick, and succulent, base long attenuate or narrowly acute, apex acutely tapered to rounded, surfaces glabrous, glandular-pubescent, or hirsute. Inflorescences axillary and terminal, when axillary, consisting of single involucres or short branches, when terminal with ± well-defined central axis and shorter side branches, or narrowly to widely forked without main axis; peduncle 3-10 mm, usually spreading glandular-puberulent or pilose, crosswalls of hairs pale or dark; involucres pale green, sometimes tinged with purple, narrowly to widely bell-shaped, 3-6 mm in flower, 4-10(-15) mm in fruit, spreading viscid-pubescent to hirsute, 40-70% connate, lobes ovate. Flowers 3 per involucre; perianth white to purple-pink, 0.7-1.1 cm. Fruits olive brown or dark olive brown, narrowly obovate and tapering at both ends to obovoid, 3.1-5.5 mm, pubescent with spreading crinkled hairs in tufts or ± evenly distributed, hairs 0.1-0.5 mm; ribs sometimes slightly paler, slightly elevated above surface (usually less than 0.5 times as wide as high), low rounded to round-angled, 0.5-1 times width of sulci, 0.3-1 times as wide as high, smooth throughout or sometimes rugose on sides, occasionally interrupted and tuberculate near apex; sulci with small or rarely large tubercles, or low and inconspicuous or occasionally high and prominently cross-rugose.

possible **zr 3** Wild Four O'clock (Heartleaf Four O'clock) Mirabilis nyctaginea (M. collina, Allionia nyctaginea)

cluster of small flowers, large heart leaf

(Native of east Texas only, most of USA)

Stems usually erect or ascending, occasionally decumbent, leafy mostly in proximal 2/3 of plant, openly forked distally, 4-15 dm, basally usually glabrous or puberulent in 2 lines, rarely spreading-pubescent; distally stems usually puberulent in 2 lines, occasionally glabrate, rarely spreading glandular-pubescent. Leaves ascending at 45-80°, abruptly reduced to inflorescence; petiole 0.2-2 cm; blade green, ovate-lanceolate to ovate or triangular, 3-10 × 2-6.5 cm, usually ± thin, base obtuse, round, truncate, or cordate, apex acute to acuminate, rarely rounded, surfaces usually glabrous, sometimes puberulent or sparsely hispidulous. Inflorescences terminal and in upper axils, subumbellate clusters at ends of long, forked branches; peduncle 5-20 mm, usually pubescent with ascending, often curved, glandular or eglandular hairs, crosswalls of hairs pale; involucres pale green, often tinged pinkish, widely bell-shaped to almost rotate, 4-6 mm in flower, 8-15 mm in fruit, glabrous or glabrate but with minute curved hairs on margins, or rarely puberulent or pilose throughout, 50-90% connate, lobes ovate to broadly ovate. Flowers (2-)3(-5) per involucre; perianth usually pink to reddish purple, rarely white, 1 cm. Fruits dark grayish brown to reddish brown (ribs and tubercles usually slightly paler), narrowly obovate and tapering at both ends, 3.4-5 mm, shaggy-pubescent with spreading, sometimes tufted, hairs, 0.3-0.4 mm, sometimes also with layer of minute hairs; ribs usually irregularly and deeply notched, especially toward apex, round to bluntly angled, 0.5-0.75 times width of sulci, 0.5-1 times as wide as high; sulci with pale small to tall tubercles that are sometimes horizontally lengthened and shelflike.

not Spreading Four O'clock Mirabilis oxybaphoides (Allionia oxybaphoides)

reclining, flowers in threes, large wide leaves

(Native of Texas, Trans Pecos)

Stems decumbent to prostrate, often tangled in other vegetation, 2-12 dm, herbaceous, puberulent in lines or throughout, glandular or not. Leaves spreading; petiole 0.5-3.5 cm; blade broadly deltate or ovate, 1.5-8 × 1-7.5 cm, fleshy, base cordate, apex usually acute or acuminate (rounded), surfaces glabrous or pubescent, and then often glandular. Inflorescences loosely and narrowly cymose; involucres solitary or clustered at ends of branches, or solitary in axils, 5-9 mm, lobes triangular, base 50-70% of height. Flowers 3 per involucre; perianth purplish to pale pink (white), 0.5-0.9 cm. Fruits olive, dark brown and black-mottled, or evenly black, sometimes faintly marked with 5 shallow grooves, broadly obovoid to nearly spheric, 2.5-3.5 mm, smooth or slightly rugose

not Texas Four O'clock Mirabilis texensis (Allionia texensis)

(Native of Bigbend of Texas)

Stems erect or ascending, few, sparsely leafy mostly in proximal 1/2, well branched, 5-10 dm, glabrate to sparsely spreading viscid-pubescent throughout, more densely so distally. Leaves ascending to spreading at 45-80°, abruptly reduced in inflorescence; petiole 0.3-4 cm; blade green, triangular-ovate to ovate, 2-7 × 2-7 cm, thick and moderately fleshy, base round to cordate, apex acute to rounded, surfaces glabrate to glandular. Inflorescences terminal and in distal axils, few branched, ± evenly forked, open; peduncle 2-6 mm, spreading viscid-pubescent, crosswalls of hairs pale or dark; involucres pale green, widely bell-shaped to almost rotate, 3-4 mm in flower, 6-13 mm in fruit, sparsely spreading viscid-pubescent, 90-100% connate, lobes round to very broadly obtuse. Flowers 2-3 per involucre; perianth pale pink to pink, 0.8-1 cm. Fruits reddish brown to brown, obovoid, 3-4 mm, densely glandular-puberulent with hairs 0.1 mm; ribs low and round, as wide as sulci, 0.5 times as wide as high, covered with tall, shelflike tubercles; sulci with prominent shelflike tubercles.

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