| Dicotyledon | Literature for Mirabilis jalapa
Lorence & Wagner, 2020. |
| Nyctaginaceae -- The Four-o'clock Family | Bibliography |
| Mirabilis jalapa | |
Common name(s): umbrellawort, four-o'clock, marvel of Peru, nani ahiahi, pua ahiahi, puahiahi |
| General Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Distribution | Native to tropical America, now widely naturalized and pantropical, planted for medicinal purposes and as an ornamental.In the Hawaiian Islands, naturalized on Midway, Kaua`i, O`ahu, Moloka`i, Lana`i, Maui, Hawai`i. |
|
| Habit |
Erect, perennial herb, 4‒10 dm tall, from a thick root; stems forked, many branched. |
|
| Leaves |
Leaves petiolate; blade triangular-ovate to broadly triangular-subcordate, 4‒14 cm long, 2‒8.5 cm wide, glabrous, rarely puberulent, apex acute to acuminate, base acute to obtuse, truncate or subcordate, sides usually decurrent; petiole 5‒45 mm long. |
|
| Flowers |
Inflorescences a terminal, congested or glomerate cyme with many leafy bracts, peduncle 1‒5 cm long; involucre with 1 flower, campanulate, deeply 5-lobed, 7‒15 mm long. Flowers with variously colored perianth, usually dark pink or purplish red in naturalized forms, opening in the late afternoon, wilting in the morning, funnelform, 30‒50 mm long, tube gradually dilated upward to a broad limb 2‒3.5 cm wide, shallowly 5-lobed; stamens 5. |
|
| Fruit |
Fruit dark brown to black, obovoid or subglobose, 8‒10 mm long, prominently rugose, glabrous, or puberulent, enclosing the single seed. |
|
| Chromosomes |
2n = 54, 58. |
|
| Contributor |
Nancy Khan |
