Four o’clock, (Mirabilis jalapa): Distribution, Description, and Medicinal Uses
Mirabilis jalapa Linn. (M. Jalapa) is a member of the Nyctaginaceae family and is known in English as Beauty of the Night, Four O’clock, Sweet Marvel of Peru. Four O’clock are tall herbaceous climbing plants with opposite leaves, enormous spectacular flowers, coriaceous obovoid fruits, and noticeable tuberous roots that are grown as ornamental plants all over the world. The blooms of this species are grown for their bright colour and pleasant odour, and they are used in food colouring. The leaves can also be cooked and consumed, but only as a last resort. The flower of M. Jalapa is known as “Four O’clock” since it blooms in the late afternoon. It has pink, red, yellow, white, and some bi-colour flowers with a little vanilla aroma.
Mirabilis is a genus of herbaceous shrubs endemic to North America and known as “four o’clock” (The wealth of India, Raw materials, 1998). Mirabilis himalaica is a Himalayan species (Kirtikar and Basu, 1991). Some species are ornamental and are grown in warmer climates. The plant’s blossoms emit a powerful odour at night that is both stupefying and capable of driving mosquitos away.
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