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Mirabilis laevis
var. retrorsa |
Mirabilis laevis
var. villosa |
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Mirabilis laevis
var. retrorsa |
Mirabilis multiflora |
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Mirabilis multiflora
var. glandulosa |
Mirabilis multiflora
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Trees and Shrubs of Kern County (Jan 2013) Mirabilis. Perennial to somewhat woody slender stems, generally forming small rounded clumps wider than tall; stems frequently forking; leaves opposite; entire; flowers 1 or more within an involucre resembling a bowl-shaped to funnelform calyx with partially united and distinct lobes, with only petaloid sepals (“perianth”), these red to purple or white, tubular to funnelform, fusing with the ovary in development of a diclesium fruit (double composite layer) with a single seed. ± 60 spp., North and South America, 1 in the Himalayas, 21 in the U.S., 8 in Calif., 2 in Kern County. Varieties of M. laevis not easily distinguished in Kern County (Spellenberg 2001);, several may be found growing together, or different varieties may develop in the same area at different times of the season (in the same year). Examples have been noted from near Lake Isabella, mouth of the Kern Canyon, and Red Rock Canyon (Spellenberg 2001). Key to Mirabilis
1. Involucres 1 per
leaf axil, 6-flowered; flowers 4–6 cm,
1. Involucres 1 in
leaf axil, or many in umbel-like clusters, 1(-2)
2. Flowers pink to purplish red; leaf hairs minute, with or
without 2. Flowers white to pale pink; leaf hairs glandular................................................... 3
3. Fruit spherical with 5–lines; stems and leaves with reflexed
and
3. Fruit widest near base without visible lines; stems leaves
with just
Mirabilis laevis (Oxybaphus laevis Bentham 1844) Curran 1888 var. crassifolia [Oxybaphus glabrifolius (Calyxhymenia glabrifolia Ortega 1797) Vahl 1805 var. crassifolius Choisy 1849) Spellenberg 2001. Wishbone bush. Woody near base, stems dividing frequently and equally (dichotomously); leaves opposite, heart-shaped, 1–2× longer than wide, 1–5 cm long, round near base, tapered to apex; flowers Dec–Jun, solitary in an involucre (cup), mostly pink to purple red. Generally a California-Baja California variety occurring west of the deserts to the desert edge, from west-central California south to the Vizcaíno Peninsula, and also islands off the Pacific Coast. Type from sand hills in San Diego, CA. Kern Co.: “Common in the central Temblor Range, usually growing in rocky places in the chaparral or the arid Douglas oak woodland, in the foothills around the valley, mostly below the woody Upper Sonoran associations, and rare along the edge of the desert at the mouth of Cow Heaven Canyon on the west side of Indian Wells Valley” (Twisselmann). CCH: Between Hobo and Democrat Hot Springs, Caliente, Tehachapi foothills near Bena, mouth of Kern River Canyon, 7 miles west of Randsburg, 2 miles north of Red Rock Canyon, 2 miles northeast of Weldon, Cotton Creek on Breckenridge Mt., Oildale, Buck springs west of Woody, 6 miles from Red Hills on road to Kelso Valley, 2 miles south of Kernville, The typical variety (var. laevis) was considered to be the widespread variety in California, but is now considered restricted geographically to the Magdalena Bay region of Baja California Sur, Mexico (Spellenberg (2001). Mirabilis laevis var. retrorsa (Mirabilis retrorsa A. Heller 1906) Jepson 1923 [M. bigelovii A. Gray 1886 var. retrorsa (A. Heller) Munz 1935]. Differs from the preceding in having short retrorse hairs and mostly whitish flowers and spherical fruit; flowering mostly in spring, also fall and winter. Great Basin Desert, southeastern Oregon, western Nevada, southern Utah, Mojave Desert, northwestern Arizona, and California–Baja California Sonoran Desert. Type from near the Southern Belle Mine, Mono Co., CA. Kern Co.: generally rocky places in the Mojave Desert, Mojave, California City, Red Rock Canyon, El Paso Mt. Range, Indian Wells, near Onyx and Weldon, 630–1,139 m (CCH). Mirabilis laevis var. villosa (Mirabilis californica A. Gray 1859 var. villosa Kellogg 1863) Spellenberg [M. bigelovii A. Gray 1886 var. bigelovii and var. aspera (Mirabilis aspera Greene 1896) Munz 1935]. Differs from the preceding in the fruit being mostly ovoid with less conspicuous lines; flowers most of the year. Similar in geographical distribution to the preceding. Type from Devil’s Gate, canyon of East Walker River, CA near NV Stateline. Twisselmann indicated it occurs occasionally in rocky places in desert mountains, and on sand dunes around dry lakes, 747–1,036 m. CCH: Box Canyon at the head of Short Canyon (Twisselmann, 8 May 1962), 9 miles north of Ricardo (Munz, 5 May 1932), southeast end of Buckhorn Lake, Edwards AFB, 2,450 ft (Twisselmann, 18 May 1965), canyon north end of El Paso Range (Twisselmann, 7 May 1962), Mesquite Canyon, El Paso Range (Twisselmann, 6 May 1965), south side of Galileo Hill, south of west end of Rand Mts. (Twisselmann, 26 Apr 1966), Bissell, Mojave Desert (K. Brandegee, 16 Jul 1912), Caliente Creek (Burtt Davy, spring 1896), near Homestead on Hwy. 14 (Spjut, 14 May 1980), Temblor Mountains region Ross Ridge,. 2,600 ft. California juniper association (Twisselmann, 4 Jun 1963). Mirabilis multiflora (Oxybaphus multiflorus 1827 Torrey) A. Gray 1859 var. glandulosa [Quamoclidion multiflorum subsp. glandulosum Standley 1909] J. F. Macbride 1917. Wagon wheels. Differs from the preceding species in having multiple flowers within a greenish cup (involucre), the flowers also larger. Plants in round clumps to 1 m diam; leaves asymmetrically heart-shaped, 1–2× longer than wide, 5–10 cm long, abruptly tapered to a pointed apex; flowers May–Aug, reddish purple to reddish lavender (magenta), funnelform, 2.5–6 cm, 6 per involucre, the involucre bracts united half-way to 5 triangular lobes; diclesia dark reddish brown, warty. Mostly outside California, of limited distribution in central to southwestern Nevada and southeastern Utah to southwestern Colorado; reported in JM2 from Inyo Co with CCH collections from near Kern Co. at Olancha and Argus Mts., also one record reported in Kern Co. from Bena, Tehachapi Mts. (H. L. Bauer, Apr 1928). Type from Grand Junction, CO, 4,500 ft. Mirabilis multiflora var. pubescens S. Watson 1880 [ Includes Oxybaphus froebelii Behr 1855]. Wagon wheels. Differs from the preceding by the ribbed diclesia. Mostly in southern California, from the southern end of the Great Valley, desert margins of the Peninsular Ranges, to northeastern Baja California, extreme southern Nevada, and southwestern Utah. Type from Warner’s Ranch, San Diego Co., CA. Reported by Twisselmann [M. frobelii (Behr) Greene] as occasional on the northwest flank of Mt. Abel northwest to Grocer Grade and through the San Emigdio Range, mostly below the chaparral,” 121–1,127 m (CCH). Sample collected by Spjut for the NCI antitumor screening program from base of foothills of Tehachapi Mts. near Arvin, Apr 2002. Pharmacological References Mirabilis multiflora—a protein, based on activity in WA, SA, LL, was reportedly isolated from a sample of this species (Hartwell 1976). Vivanco J. M., B. J. Savary and H. E. Flores. 1999. Characterization of Two Novel Type I Ribosome-Inactivating Proteins from the Storage Roots of the Andean Crop Mirabilis expansa. Plant Physiol. 119 (4): 1447–1456.
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