Mirabilis jalapa , the marvel of Peru [1] or four o'clock flower , is the most commonly grown ornamental species of Mirabilis plant , and is available in a range of colours. Mirabilis jalapa was cultivated by the Aztecs for medicinal and ornamental purposes. The flowers usually open from late afternoon or at dusk namely between 4 and 8 o'clock , giving rise to one of its common names. Flowers then produce a strong, sweet-smelling fragrance throughout the night, then close for good in the morning.
New flowers open the following day. It arrived in Europe in Today, it is common in many tropical regions and is also valued in Europe as a not hardy ornamental plant. The name of Mirabilis jalapa given by Carl Von Linne in is formed from the scientific Latin Mirabilis meaning "admirable" by allusion to the remarkable colors of its flowers and the specific name jalapa that would refer to its origin in the Jalapa in Guatemala.
But the epithet of jalapa could also refer to the city of Xalapa Jalapa in Mexico from which came a former purgative drug, named jalap , taken from the tubers of the tuberous jalap. Linnaeus refers to all species of Jalapa described by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort who in wrote:. Father Plumier assured me that the Jalap, which is brought to us with the root of America, was a true species of Belle de nuit.
We have also received the seed, which has produced in the Jardin Royal de Paris a plant quite like the common Belle de nuit; but this seed is more wrinkled, and the leaves of the plant are less smooth. It is a perennial , herbaceous , bushy plant that reaches stature heights of mostly 1, rarely up to 2 meters in height.
It may also be grown as an annual , especially in the temperate zone. The single-seeded fruits are spherical, wrinkled and black upon maturity, having started out greenish-yellow. The stems are thick, full, quadrangular with many ramifications and rooting at the nodes.
