four-o’clock

plant

Also known as: Mirabilis jalapa, beauty-of-the-night, marvel-of-peru

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Also called:: marvel-of-Peru, or beauty-of-the-night

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four-o’clock, (Mirabilis jalapa) ornamental perennial plant, of the family Nyctaginaceae, native to tropical America. Four-o’clock is a quick-growing species up to one metre (three feet) tall, with oval leaves on short leafstalks. The stems are swollen at the joints. The plant is called four-o’clock because its flowers, from white and yellow to shades of pink and red, sometimes streaked and mottled, open in late afternoon (and close by morning). There are 45 species in the Mirabilis genus of herbs.

This article was most recently revised and updated by William L. Hosch.