Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Caryophyllales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Mirabilis nyctaginea
FAMILY
Nyctaginaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Wild Four-o'clock at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
The exact native distribution obscured by subsequent spread. André Michaux collected this species from bluffs of the Tennessee River in 1795, suggesting native status for that area, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Mirabilis nyctaginea
FAMILY
Nyctaginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Mirabilis nyctaginea
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Mirabilis nyctaginea
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 067-01-002:
Mirabilis nyctaginea FAMILY Nyctaginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Oxybaphus nyctagineus
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Allionia nyctaginea
COMMON NAME:
Heart-leaved Umbrella-wort, Heartleaf Four-o’clock
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_alny_001_lvd
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Bruce A. Sorrie bas_mirabilis_nyctaginea1
June Lyon County MN
This relative of the garden Four-o'clock may get to be 5' high, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Bruce A. Sorrie bas_mirabilisnyctaginea1b
June Lyon County MN
Beneath each cluster of pinkish-purple flowers is a cup-shaped involucre, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Mirabilis nyctaginea
FAMILY
Nyctaginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Mirabilis nyctaginea
FAMILY
Nyctaginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Mirabilis nyctaginea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Mirabilis nyctaginea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 067-01-002:
Mirabilis nyctaginea
FAMILY
Nyctaginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Oxybaphus nyctagineus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Allionia nyctaginea
3191
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Upland prairies, streambanks, riverbanks, also in disturbed situations (as eastwards) such as railroad embankments, other disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora
Native: central North America
Rare
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
Leaves have petioles.
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Pink to lavender
5-lobed campanulate, petaloid calyx subtended by 5-lobed calyx-like involucre
Petals absent
Inferior ovary
Bisexual
Flowers in dichasial panicles
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".