
| 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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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 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.
Seed is a hard grayish brown nutlet about ¼ inch long with 5 ribs; it is somewhat hairy.
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Photos taken at Long Lake Regional Park, New Brighton, MN, June 2007
Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?
This plant is growing all over Litchfield. It has the most beautiful pink flowers.
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.