Mirabilis multiflora is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common names Colorado four-o'clock or desert four-o'clock that is native to the southwestern United States from California to Colorado and Texas, as well as far northern Mexico, where it grows in mostly dry habitat types in a number of regions.
| Mirabilis multiflora | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Nyctaginaceae |
| Genus: | Mirabilis |
| Species: | M. multiflora
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| Binomial name | |
| Mirabilis multiflora | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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Description
editIt is a perennial herb growing upright to about 80 centimetres (31 in) in maximum height. The leaves are oppositely arranged on the spreading stem branches. Each fleshy leaf has an oval or rounded blade up to 12 centimetres (4.7 in) long and is hairless or sparsely hairy. In winter, the plant dies back to the ground and its stem breaks off at ground level (leaving no hint of its root location), though it reemerges in mid winter or spring. It dies back in extreme drought as well.[3]
The flowers occur in leaf axils on the upper branches. Usually six flowers bloom in a bell-shaped involucre of five partly fused bracts. Each five-lobed, funnel-shaped flower is 4 to 6 centimetres (1.6 to 2.4 in) wide and magenta in color.
Taxonomy
editMirabilis multiflora was given its first scientific description by the botanist John Torrey in 1827 with the name Oxybaphus multiflorus. It is described by Asa Gray in 1853 as Quamoclidion multiflorum and in 1859 with the accepted name as Mirabilis multiflora.[2]
Names
editMirabilis multiflora is known in English by the common name of "Colorado four-o'clock".[1] It is also known as "desert four-o'clock",[4] however it occasionally shares this common name with Mirabilis tenuiloba and with Mirabilis laevis var. retrorsa.[5][6] It is also sometimes called the "showy four-o'clock" or "maravilla".[7]
Uses
editAmong the Zuni people, the powdered root is mixed with flour, made into a bread, and used to decrease appetite.[8] An infusion of the root is taken and rubbed on the abdomen of hungry adults and children.[9] An infusion of the powdered root is taken by adults or children after overeating.[10]
Pollination
editM. multiflora's reproduction is dependent on hawkmoths for pollination. Two primary pollinators are the hawkmoths Hyles lineata and Manduca quinquemaculata.[11]
Gallery
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References
edit- ^ a b NatureServe (2024). "Mirabilis multiflora". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Mirabilis multiflora (Torr.) A.Gray". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ Growing Mirabilis multiflora: Wild Four O'clock GardenOracle.com. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ Spellenberg, Richard (1986). Familiar Flowers of North America. Western region. New York: Knopf. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-394-74844-3. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ Felger, Richard Stephen; Rutman, Susan; Malusa, Jim; Van Devender, Thomas R. (28 January 2013). "Ajo Peak to Tinajas Altas: Flora of southwestern Arizona: An introduction" (PDF). Phytoneuron. 2013–5: 22. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ Eastman, Donald C. (1990). Rare and Endangered Plants of Oregon. Wilsonville, Oregon: Beautiful America Pub. Co. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-89802-524-8. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ Busco, Janice; Morin, Nancy R. (2010). Native Plants for High-elevation Western Gardens (2nd ed.). Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum. pp. 208–209. ISBN 978-1-55591-740-1. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ Camazine, Scott; Bye, Robert A. (1980). "A Study Of The Medical Ethnobotany Of The Zuni Indians of New Mexico". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2 (365–388): 377. doi:10.1016/S0378-8741(80)81017-8. PMID 6893476.
- ^ Stevenson, Matilda Coxe (1915). "Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians". SI-BAE Annual Report #30: 58, 59.
- ^ Stevenson 1915, p. 58
- ^ Hodges, Scott A. "Some preliminary Observations on Hawkmoth Pollination of Oenothera caespitosa and Mirabilis multiflora" (PDF): 244–249.
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External links
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