Mirabilis jalapa

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Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Species Distribution Map
Family:NYCTAGINACEAE
Species:Mirabilis jalapa L.
Common Name:Garden Four O'clock; Marvel of Peru; Beauty of the Night
Habitat:**
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Herb
Duration:Perennial
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:MIJA
Plant Notes:Garden Four O’clock is an introduced herbaceous perennial in the Four-O'clock family (Nyctaginaceae). It is native to Central and South America. Garden Four O'clock is widely cultivated and escapes or persists in urban forests, around old home sites, on roadsides, and near trash dumps. It is a perennial from an enlarged tuberous black or brown tap root. There are usually several erect stems from a root crown. The stems are from 1-3 feet in height, much branched, green in color, and glabrous. The stems are swollen at the nodes and easily broken. Leaves are opposite, petiolate, ovate to triangular in outline, thin in texture, and glabrous. Flowers are produced in clusters near the apex of the branches. Each flower is subtended by a papery 5-lobed involucre. The “flower” is actually a pigmented modified calyx. It is salverform and red, yellow, pink, white, or bicolored. The flowers open in the late afternoon and close by early morning. The single seeded fruit is globose, black in color, and ribbed and wrinkled. Garden Four O'clock is a popular ornamental and is readily available as seed. It prefers a moist soil rich in organic matter and partial sun. It was cultivated by the Aztecs for medicinal and ornamental purposes.—A. Diamond.
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Not Native
References:**

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyNYCTAGINACEAE - Four-O'clock family
Genus Mirabilis
Species Mirabilis jalapa L. - Garden Four O'clock; Marvel of Peru; Beauty of the Night

Citation

Citation Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 177. 1753.
Basionym: **
Type: INDIA: Without data (lectotype: LINN 240.2). Lectotypified by K. Larsen, in Morat, Fl. Cambodge 24: 108. 1989.

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Admirabilis peruana Admirabilis peruana Nieuwland, Amer. Midl. Naturalist 3: 280. 1914, nom. illegit.Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus 1753. 
Jalapa congesta Jalapa congesta Moench, Methodus 508. 1794, nom. illegit.Jalapa officinalis Crantz 1766; Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus 1753. 
Jalapa dichotoma Jalapa dichotoma Crantz, Inst. Rei Herb. 2: 266. 1766, nom. illegit.Mirabilis dichotoma Linnaeus 1762, nom. illegit.; Mirabilis odorata Linnaeus 1755. 
Jalapa officinalis Jalapa officinalis Crantz, Inst. Rei Herb. 2: 266. 1766.  
Jalapa undulata Jalapa undulata Moench, Suppl. Meth. 196. 1802, nom. illegit.Mirabilis dichotoma Linnaeus 1762, nom. illegit.; Mirabilis odorata Linnaeus 1755. 
Mirabilis ambigua Mirabilis ambigua Trautvetter, Linnaea 15(Litt. Ber.): 97. 1841. Cult. in Russia, without data (holotype: KW).
Mirabilis dichotoma Mirabilis dichotoma Linnaeus, Sp. Pl., ed. 2. 252. 1762, nom. illegit.Mirabilis odorata Linnaeus 1755. 
Mirabilis divaricata Mirabilis divaricata Lowe, Trans. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 4: 17. 1831.  
Mirabilis jalapa subsp. ciliata Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus, subsp. ciliata Standley, Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 12: 368. 1909. MEXICO: Oaxaca: Valley of Oaxaca, 1 Oct 1894, Smith 791 (holotype: MO).
Mirabilis jalapa subsp. lindheimeri Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus, subsp. lindheimeri Standley, Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 12: 368. 1909. TEXAS: Comal Co.: New Braunfels, Jun 1846, Lindheimer 158 (lectotype: MO; isolectotypes: MO). Lectotypified by Le Duc, Sida 16: 640. 1995.
Mirabilis jalapa subsp. volcanica Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus, subsp. volcanica Standley, Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 12: 367. 1909. MEXICO: Distrito Federal: Pedregal, 19 Aug 1896, Pringle 6433 (holotype: F; isotypes: GH, MO, US).
Mirabilis jalapa var. ambigua Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus, var. ambigua (Trautvetter) Choisy, in de Candolle, Prodr. 13: 428. 1849.Mirabilis ambigua Trautvetter 1841.  
Mirabilis jalapa var. lindheimeri Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus, var. lindheimeri (Standley) Cory, Rhodora 38: 405. 1936.Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus, subsp. lindheimeri Standley 1909. 
Mirabilis jalapa var. planiflora Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus, var. planiflora (Trautvetter) Choisy, in de Candolle, Prodr. 13(2): 428. 1849.Mirabilis planiflora Trautvetter 1840. 
Mirabilis jalapa var. procera Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus, var. procera (Bertoloni) Choisy, in de Candolle, Prodr. 13(2): 428. 1849.Mirabilis procera Bertoloni 1839. 
Mirabilis lindheimeri Mirabilis lindheimeri (Standley) Shinners, Field & Lab. 19: 175. 1951.Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus, subsp. lindheimeri Standley 1909. 
Mirabilis odorata Mirabilis odorata Linnaeus, Cent. Pl. 1: 7. 1755. MEXICO: Without data (lectotype: LINN 240.1). Lectotypified by Le Duc, Sida 16: 640. 1995.
Mirabilis pedunculata Mirabilis pedunculata Stokes, Bot. Mat. Med. 1: 311. 1812, nom. illegit.Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus 1753. 
Mirabilis pedunculata var. alba Mirabilis pedunculata Stokes, var. alba Stokes, Bot. Mat. Med. 1: 312. 1812.  
Mirabilis planiflora Mirabilis planiflora Trautvetter, Bull. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Petersbourg 6: 216. 1840. Cult. in Russia, without data (holotype: KW).
Mirabilis procera Mirabilis procera Bertoloni, Novi Comment Acad. Sci. Inst. Bononiensis 3: 15, t. 1. 1839. Cult. in Italy, without data (lectotype: Bertoloni, Novi Comment. Acad. Sci. Inst. Bononiensis 3: t. 1. 1839). Lectotypified by Le Duc, Sida 16: 640. 1995.
Nyctago hortensis Nyctago hortensis Dumont de Courset, Bot. Cult. 1: 654. 1802, nom. illegit.Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus 1753. 
Nyctago jalapa Nyctago jalapa (Linnaeus) de Candolle, Fl. Franc. 3: 426. 1805.Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus 1753. 
Nyctago mirabilis Nyctago mirabilis J. Saint-Hilaire, Expos. Fam. 1: 212, t. 37. 1805. MEXICO: Without data (lectotype: J. Saint-Hilaire, Expos. Fam. 1: t. 37. 1805). Lectotypified by Le Duc, Sida 16: 640. 1995.
Nyctago versicolor Nyctago versicolor Salisbury, Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton 57. 1796, nom. illegit.Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus 1753. 
Trimista levigata Trimista levigata Rafinesque, Autik. Bot. 12. 1840.  

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Autauga, Baldwin, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Coffee, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Geneva, Houston, Jefferson, Lee, Marengo, Marshall, Montgomery, Pike, Tallapoosa

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AUA, JSU, TROY, UNA, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1994 - 2020

Barcode / Accession No. County Coll. Date Collector &
Collection No.		 Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used		 Image
AUA_ACC_22383 Lee 12 Jul 1970 Morris, Kermit
39		 AUA
Mirabilis Jalapa L.
AUA_ACC_53056 Crenshaw 8 Nov 1990 Diamond, Alvin R.
7184		 AUA
Mirabilis Jalapa L.
TROY000036026 Butler 24 Oct 2012 Diamond, Alvin R.
23530		 TROY
Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus
UWAL0056214 Baldwin 31 Jul 2020 England, Kevin J.
11164		 UWAL
Mirabilis jalapa L. var. jalapa
AUA_ACC_36249 Jefferson 21 Oct 1972 Bowers, John R.
161		 AUA
Mirabilis Jalapa L.
JSU139121 Marshall 13 Jul 1996 Spaulding, Daniel D.
9042		 JSU
Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus
TROY000036294 Bullock 02 Nov 2012 Dykes, Bailee
1455		 TROY
Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus
AUA_ACC_57452 Conecuh 23 Sep 1995 Diamond, Alvin R.
9956		 AUA
Mirabilis Jalapa L.
UNA00057630 Pike 21 Aug 2001 Diamond, Alvin R.
12615		 UNA
Mirabilis jalapa L.
ALNHS00002467 Tallapoosa 26 Oct 2013 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#1271		 ALNHS
Mirabilis jalapa L.
AUA_ACC_47356 Chambers 3 Jul 1983 Hayes, Sherrad
44		 AUA
Mirabilis Jalapa L.
UNA00046149 Houston 22 Oct 1994 MacDonald, John R.
8098		 UNA
Mirabilis jalapa L.
ALNHS00001255 Jefferson 14 Aug 2012 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#684		 ALNHS
Mirabilis jalapa L.
UWAL0005245 Pike 03 Aug 2008 Diamond, Alvin R.
19688		 UWAL
Mirabilis jalapa L.
UWAL0013511 Bullock 02 Nov 2012 Dykes, Bailee
1455		 UWAL
Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus
ALNHS00006352 Houston 02 Nov 2016 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#2705		 ALNHS
Mirabilis jalapa L.
TROY000007225 Pike 21 Aug 2001 Diamond, Alvin R.
12625		 TROY
Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus
TROY000021636 Pike 03 Aug 2008 Diamond, Alvin R.
19688		 TROY
Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus
JSU134111 Calhoun 4 Sep 1994 Spaulding, Daniel D.
6626		 JSU
Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus
TROY000048714 Autauga 24 Aug 2018 Parker, Matthew R.
1759		 TROY
Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus
AUA_ACC_50551 Montgomery 24 Oct 1991 Diamond, Alvin R.
7779		 AUA
Mirabilis Jalapa L.
UNA00047121 Houston 23 Jun 1996 MacDonald, John R.
9660		 UNA
Mirabilis jalapa L.
AUA_ACC_55389 Pike 17 Oct 1994 Diamond, Alvin R.
9412		 AUA
Mirabilis Jalapa L.
UWAL0043390 Baldwin 23 Aug 2000 Larsen, Harry S.
339		 UWAL
Mirabilis jalapa L.
TROY000007224 Coffee 16 Jul 1999 Martin, Brian H.
92		 TROY
Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus
UNA00056904 Geneva 26 Aug 1998 MacDonald, John R.
11811		 UNA
Mirabilis jalapa L.
UWAL0015102 Butler 24 Oct 2012 Diamond, Alvin R.
23530		 UWAL
Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus
UWAL0046231 Autauga 24 Aug 2018 Parker, Matthew R.
1759		 UWAL
Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus
UWAL0016029 Pike 15 Nov 2012 Diamond, Alvin R.
23560		 UWAL
Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus
TROY000009229 Coffee 28 Jun 1999 Martin, Brian H.
82		 TROY
Mirabilis jalapa Linnaeus
UWAL0047462 Marengo 26 Aug 2018 Keener, Brian R.
10841		 UWAL
Mirabilis jalapa L.
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