Oxybaphus nyctagineus(Michx.) Sweet

heartleaf four o'clock

WFO wfo-0000388905 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Oxybaphus nyctagineus, photographed by Cazody
fig. a Cazody, CC0 1.0 / 2022-06-11 / obs. 205653782
Oxybaphus nyctagineus, photographed by Ryan Sorrells
fig. b Ryan Sorrells, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205672936
Oxybaphus nyctagineus, photographed by Marilynn Miller
fig. c Marilynn Miller, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204909080
Oxybaphus nyctagineus, photographed by Tom Scavo
fig. d Tom Scavo, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 205098993
Oxybaphus nyctagineus, photographed by Cory
fig. e Cory, CC0 1.0 / obs. 200844191
Oxybaphus nyctagineus, photographed by Zakqary Roy
fig. f Zakqary Roy, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 200068706
Oxybaphus nyctagineus, photographed by Ryan Sorrells
fig. g Ryan Sorrells, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 154836362
Oxybaphus nyctagineus, photographed by CatherineK
fig. h CatherineK, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 154337566

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 52 botanical countries

Regions where Oxybaphus nyctagineus is native: Alabama, Alberta, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming AlabamaAlbertaArizonaArkansasBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutIdahoIndianaIowaKansasLouisianaMaineManitobaMarylandMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SouthwestMichiganMinnesotaMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaQuébecSaskatchewanSouth DakotaTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Oxybaphus nyctagineus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Idaho IDA
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southwest MXS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Rhode I. RHO
Saskatchewan SAS
South Dakota SDA
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 369 in flower of 570 examined

Peak flowering in Jun. Each bar is the share of Oxybaphus nyctagineus observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 369 of 570 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 5 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 6 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Allionia nyctaginea Michx.
  • Allionia nyctaginea var. cervantesii Heimerl
  • Calymenia granulata Raf.
  • Calymenia nyctaginea (Michx.) Nutt.
  • Mirabilis nyctaginea (Michx.) MacMill.
  • Mirabilis oxybaphus Bordz.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol MINY. public domain. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.