Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Mirabilis jalapa
Common name
Four o'clock Flower, Marvel of Peru
Family
Nyctaginaceae
Where found
Urban bushland. gardens, roadsides, waste areas, disturbed sites, and near streams. Mostly Sydney area. Occasionally elsewhere. Doubtfully naturalised in the ACT.
Notes
Introduced perennial herb, sometimes arising annually from the roots, to 1 m high with a woody rootstock and large tuberous roots. Stems hairless or hairy with minute hairs. Leaves opposite each other, 3–9 cm long, 10–50 mm wide, hairlesss, bases cordate to squared off, tips pointed. Flowers fragrant, white, yellow or red or a mixture of any of these on the one plant, 20–60 mm long, 25–30 mm in diameter, with a trumpet shaped tube and 5 lobes. Flowers in 3–7-flowered clusters of which only the central flower often develops. Flowers opening in the afternoon. Flowering: autumn.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Mirabilis~jalapa (accessed 24 January, 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application:
