Californian Four-o’clock
Mirabilis Californica, Gray. Four-o’clock Family
Stems.—From a woody base; a foot or two long. Leaves.—Ovate; six to fifteen lines long; rather thick. Flowers.—Magenta-colored; one to three in a campanulate, calyx-like, five-toothed involucre. Involucres nearly sessile. Perianth.—Six lines long; open funnel-form; five-lobed. Stamens.—Five. Anthers yellow. Ovary.—Globose; one-celled. Style filiform. Stigma capitate. Hab.—Southern California and eastward.
When the heat of the day is over and the morning-glories are folding together their faded chalices, the bright little four-o’clocks begin to open their myriad magenta-colored eyes upon the closing day, and they, together with the evening primroses, will keep the vigils of the night. These diaphanous little flowers, with their long stamens resting on the lower side of the perianth, are like diminutive azaleas.
They are very puzzling, and the part that baffles the young botanist is the calyx, which, as it sometimes has two or three corollas within it, cannot be considered a calyx at all, but must be called an involucre. In reality the corolla is absent, and the calyx, which is colored like a corolla, is called a perianth. This appears to sit upon the top of the round ovary, but in reality a green continuation of it is drawn down tightly over the ovary.
CALIFORNIAN FOUR-O’CLOCK—Mirabilis Californica.