Minnesota Wildflowers


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Mirabilis nyctaginea (Wild Four O'Clock)

Plant Info
Also known as: Heart-leaf Four O'Clock
Genus:Mirabilis
Family:Nyctaginaceae (Four O'Clock)
Life cycle:perennial
Origin:native
Habitat:sun; dry fields, prairies, along roads
Bloom season:May - September
Plant height:2 to 4 feet
USDA PLANTS database:Minnesota county distribution map
Spotted in Ramsey County at:

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Detailed Information

Flower: 5-petals panicle

[photo of flowers] Flowers are about ½ inch across, tubular with 5 notched lobes. The color is pink to magenta and there are 3 to 5 long pink stamens with yellow tips. Groups of 3 or more flowers sit at the end of stems branching out in the upper part of the plant. The flowers open in late afternoon and close before noon the next day.

Leaves and stem: opposite simple

[photo of leaves] Leaves are heart-shaped, 2 to 4 inches long and 1 to 3 inches wide with smooth but often wavy edges. Leaves on the lower part of the plant have short stems. Attachment is opposite. The main stem feels square or ridged but is more rounded in the upper part of the plant. Stem color is light green, sometimes striped, and often reddish at the leaf nodes. The plant is mostly hairless but there may be a few scattered hairs on the leaves or stem.

Fruit:

[photo of seeds] Seed is a hard grayish brown nutlet about ¼ inch long with 5 ribs; it is somewhat hairy.

Notes:

Wild Four O'Clock often looks bushy due to much branching. Square stems and opposite leaves are traits of plants in the Mint family, but that is not the case here.

Where to buy native seed and plants

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  • Out Back Nursery and Landscaping - Where Ecology and Horticulture Unite
  • Shooting Star Native Seeds - Native Prairie Grass and Wildflower Seeds
  • Prairie Restorations - Bringing people together with the land
  • Shop for native seeds and plants at PrairieMoon.com!

Map of native plant purveyors in the upper midwest

More photos

Photos taken at Long Lake Regional Park, New Brighton, MN, June 2007

Comments

Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?

Posted by: Susan in Milaca, Mille Lacs County
on: 2011-07-01 10:29:37

Nice site! Just utilized it to positively ID mirabilis nyctaginea I found on a roadside. Very helpful for quick identification. The plant I found is expressing a much deeper darker purple flower but it is definitely a wild heart-leaf four o'clock. It is not a plant I see frequently in Mille Lacs County. It seems to keep to the edge of roadsides.

Posted by: Robyn in Litchfield
on: 2011-09-05 20:54:02

This plant is growing all over Litchfield. It has the most beautiful pink flowers.

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