Scientific Family
Nyctaginaceae
Synonyms
Hesperonia aspera, H. bigelovii, Mirablis aspera, M. bigelovii, M. bigelovii var. aspera, M. bigelovii var. bigelovii
Other common names
Bigelow's four-o'clock
Bigelow four o'clock
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
12 to 20 inches
Riparian
No
Weak-stemmed; stems slender, erect or ascending, straggling, sticky; branches form "wishbones". White to pale pink or purplish flowers are clustered at the end of stems.
5-parted sepals about 1/2 inch long; whorl of united bracts below each flower, little changed in fruit; fruit not strongly 5-angled. Flowers usually white, sometimes pink or purplish or tinged with pink at base.
Habitat
Lower desert flats, rocky slopes and canyons, desert brush lands.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
0
High elevation
3000
Flower Characteristics
Petals are fused into a tube, 1 inch across, darker pink color near the center, and have rounded, ruffled lobes and up-curved stamens. The flowers open in the evening.
Flower color
White to pale pink to purplish
Flower shape
Regular
Tubular
Yes
First bloom month
March
Last bloom month
October
Flower clusters
Rounded
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Hairy, oval to kidney-shaped.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Dark green
Leaf shape
Round or oval
Leaf margin
Smooth
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Leaves & stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Gray-brown, dark charcoal brown, or olive, often dark mottled, often faintly marked with 10 paler longitudinal lines, ellipsoid, obovoid, or almost spheric.
Fruit type
Achene
Fruit color
Brown, black, greenish