California Four O'clock, Mirabilis laevis var. crassifolia

About California Four O'clock (Mirabilis laevis var. crassifolia) 8 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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California Four O'Clock (Mirabilis laevis var. crassifolia) is a common native perennial herb that grows in Southern and Central California, primarily in the Central Coast, the South Coast Range and South Coast regions. It tends to grow in grassy places, at elevations from 0-3300 feet. The plant form is dense and mounding, producing a large number of small brightly colored flowers ranging from pink to purple. The plant sometimes goes deciduous in the summer, leaving only winding white twigs until the next rainy season. It may retain some foliage in shady locations and with occasional summer water. It is sometimes difficult to establish, but once established it require little or no attention. It spreads by runners and readily reseeds in native plant gardens.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Perennial herb

Size

2.6 ft tall
10 ft wide

Form

Spreading

Growth Rate

Moderate

Dormancy

Summer Semi-Deciduous, Winter Deciduous

Fragrance

None

Flower Color

Lavender, Pink, Purple

Flowering Season

Winter, Spring

Wildlife Supported

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 1 confirmed

, 7 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Lithariapteryx jubarellaLithariapteryx jubarella

White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata

Hawaiian Beet Webworm Spoladea recurvalisSpoladea recurvalis

Somber Carpet Disclisioprocta stellataDisclisioprocta stellata

Archirhoe neomexicanaArchirhoe neomexicana

Embola powelliEmbola powelli

Lithariapteryx abroniaeellaLithariapteryx abroniaeella

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun, Part Shade

Moisture

Low

Summer Irrigation

Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries

Carried by 8

Ease of Care

Moderately Easy

Cold Tolerance

Tolerates cold to 30° F

Soil Drainage

Fast, Medium, Slow

Soil Description

Adaptable. Soil PH: 5.0 - 8.0

Common uses

Groundcovers

Companion Plants

Works well with most chaparral and coastal sage scrub plants such as tree or Scrub Oaks (Quercus sp.), toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), Lemonade Berry (Rhus integrifolia), Black Elderberry (Sambuccus nigra), Manzanita species and Ceanothus species.

Maintenance

The stems are fragile and break off easily. It can be pruned or sheared in late summer or early fall to restrain its spreading tendency

Sunset Zones?

8*, 9*, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Natural Setting

Site Type

Grassy places, slope bottoms, dunes, dry rocky places and washes, or in the understory of taller chaparral plants

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 3.6" - 34.7", Summer Precipitation: 0.14" - 2.23", Coldest Month: 32.3" - 59.4", Hottest Month: 56.7" - 87.6", Humidity: 0.86" - 39.72", Elevation: -7" - 8177"

Alternative Names

Botanical Names: Mirabilis californica

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

California Four O'clock

Mirabilis laevis var. crassifolia

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California Four O'clockMirabilis laevis var. crassifolia

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California Four O'clock

Mirabilis laevis var. crassifolia