NYCTAGINAGEiE-FOUR-O'CLOGK FAMILY 



FOUR-O'CLOCK. MARVEL OF PERU 



Mirdbilis jaldpa. 



Originally called admirdbilis, admirable, which word Linnaeus 

 shortened. 



A night-blooming perennial, usually treated as an annual; frequently 

 used to form temporary hedges. South America. Summer. 



Root. — Large and fleshy, often tuberous. 



Stem. — Erect, bushy. 



Leaves. — Opposite, heart-shaped at base, apex acute, margin entire. 



Flowers. — Funnel-shaped, borne in terminal clusters, each flower 

 lasting for a night. 



Involucre. — Looks like a calyx, five-cleft. 



Calyx. — Looks like a corolla, funnel-shaped, border five-lobed, red, 

 pink, white, yellow, variegated. 



Corolla. — Wanting. 



Stamens. — Five, exserted; filaments long and slender. 



Ovary. — Globose; style long, slender, protruding; stigma capitate. 

 Stigmas and anthers take on the color of the calyx to a marked degree. 



Capsule. — Oblong-conical, containing one large angular seed. 



To the botanist the Four-o'clock is a flower of "make believe." 

 What looks like corolla is really calyx, what passes for calyx is 

 really involucre, and the corolla-like calyx is red, pink, yellow, 

 white, or variegated, as it happens, for flowers of two or more 

 colors are frequently upon the same branch. The blossoms 

 begin to open late in the afternoon, remain open all night, and 

 close under the full sun of the morning. On cloudy days they 

 stay open considerably longer. The life of a blossom is a single 

 night; it does not reopen, having once closed. It calls to the 



