Mirabilis linearis var. linearis

Narrow leaf four o'clock

Family: Nyctaginaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Narrow leaf four o'clock is a naturalized perennial found in southern California coastal areas including Orange and Riverside counties in riverbeds, roadsides, and gravelly places at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces pale pink to magenta flowers in broad clusters with cup-shaped involucres about 6 to 10 millimeters wide. Growing with ascending to erect stems up to one meter tall that are glabrous to finely strigose, it forms a distinctively structured plant. Its leaves are linear to narrowly lanceolate, approximately 3 to 10 centimeters long, with a slightly fleshy texture and gray hairiness. The fruit is club-shaped, about 5 millimeters long with five prominent ribs and a wrinkled surface.

Habitat: Riverbeds, railroads, roadsides, gravelly places

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: SCo (Orange, Riverside cos.)

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.