Mirabilis laevis var. crassifolia
Wishbone bush, Wishbone Bush
Family: Nyctaginaceae · Type: perennial · Native
Wishbone bush is a California native perennial found in central Sierra Nevada Foothills, Tehachapi, Central Coast, southern Coastal Range, southwestern California, western Transverse and Inyo Ranges, and western desert areas in grassy areas, chaparral, dunes, dry rocky areas, and washes at elevations below 2,500 meters. Flowering from December to June, this plant produces pink to purple-red (occasionally white) flowers in bell-shaped involucres 5 to 8 millimeters long. Growing with trailing to ascending stems that become woody and grayish with age, it develops a sprawling form that can reach up to 4.5 centimeters tall. Its leaves are ovate, 1 to 4.5 centimeters long, covered in fine puberulent or glandular hairs with distinctive conic-based young leaf hairs. The fruit is a small ovoid structure approximately 5 millimeters long, often lightly dotted or wrinkled and glabrous.
Habitat: Grassy areas, chaparral, dunes, dry rocky areas, washes
Bloom period: Mostly Dec-Jun
Elevation: < 2500 m
Bioregions: c&s SNF, Teh, CCo, SCoR, SW, W&I, w edge D
California counties: San Diego, San Bernardino, Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, Ventura, Orange, Santa Barbara, San Benito, Monterey, Fresno, San Luis Obispo, Alameda, Inyo, Merced, Tulare, Imperial, Santa Cruz
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.