Four O'Clock (3)
Narrowleaf Four O'Clock
Mirabilis linearis
(Oxybaphus linearis)
Family:
Four O'Clock (Nyctaginaceae)
AKA:
Umbrellawort, Ribbon Four O'Clock
Photo taken on:
June 26, 2006
Location:
Taylor Canyon, GV, CO
Life Zones:
Foothills to montane
Habitat:
Roadsides, dry meadows
Grows to 3 feet in clumps with long, narrow, grayish-green
leaves to 4" long. Flowers are ½" across and range from
white to pink to purple, growing in clusters of three. 
The bracts, leaves and stems are covered in fine hairs. The bracts are purple-tinged and united. It is distinguished by the very inflated, papery and veined fruiting calyx, which resembles an umbrella.
Photo taken on:
August 27, 2010
Location:
White Rock, NM
Flora of North America reference.
Spreading Four O'Clock
Mirabilis oxybaphoides
Family:
Four O'Clock (Nyctaginaceae)
AKA:
Vining Four O'Clock, Smooth Spreading
Four O'Clock
Photo taken on:
September 1, 2010
Location:
White Rock, NM
Life Zones:
Foothills to montane
Habitat: Waste places, open woods
Sprawls on the ground and over other vegetation with stems to 3 feet long. Leaves are heart-shaped on light green stems (background of photo). Flowers have sticky, hairy buds. and are ½" across, compared to Showy Four O'Clock, which grows in similar habitat. Flowers grow in a cluster of three but bloom at different times, unlike the Trailing Four O'Clock below.
Flora of North America reference.
Trailing Four O'Clock
Allionia incarnata
Family:
Four O'Clock (Nyctaginaceae)
AKA:
Trailing Windmills, Pink Three-flower
Photo taken on:
October 5, 2021
Location:
Canyonlands, UT
Life Zones:
Plains
Habitat: Gravelly, sandy disturbed areas
Sprawls close to the ground with stems to 3 feet long. Leaves and stems are sticky and often have sand stuck to them. Leaves have wavy edges. What appears to be one flower almost 1" across is actually three flowers with three lobed petals growing close together.
Flora of North America reference.