Mirabilis jalapa L.

  • Authority

    Britton, Nathaniel L. & Millspaugh, Charles F. 1920. The Bahama Flora.

  • Family

    Nyctaginaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Mirabilis jalapa L.

  • Description

    Species Description - Foliage deep green, glabrous or slightly pubescent. Stem erect, 3-7 dm. tall, much branched; leaves ovate, acuminate, sometimes sparingly ciliate, entire, truncate or cordate at the base, the petioles about one half as long as the blades; involucres campanulate, 7-8 mm. high, pubescent, 1-flowered, their lobes ovate-lanceolate, twice as long as the tube, acute, bristle-tipped; calyx trumpet-shaped, 3-5 cm. long, deep red to purple or white, often more or less blotched, the edge notched; stamens exserted; fruit ovoid, black, 8-10 mm. long, wrinkled-tuberculate, 5-ribbed.

  • Distribution

    Waste grounds, spontaneous after cultivation, New Providence, Eleuthera and Fortune Island : Bermuda ; Florida ; the West Indies ; continental tropical America north through Mexico. Four-o'clock.

    New Providence Bahamas South America| Eleuthera Bahamas South America| Bermuda South America| Florida United States of America North America| West Indies| México Mexico North America|