''Mirabilis laevis'', the desert wishbone-bush, is a recently redefined species of flowering plant in the

four o'clock family Nyctaginaceae, the four o'clock family, is a family of around 33 genera and 290 species of flowering plants, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, with a few representatives in temperate regions. The family has a unique fruit t ...

. Distribution is in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

and northwest Mexico.

Distribution and taxonomy

''Mirabilis laevis'' now includes the common

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

plant known as wishbone bush (formerly ''Mirabilis californica''), and several very similar relatives previously classified as separate species and now as varieties.(Choisy) Spellenberg, 2001

Varieties

*''Mirabilis laevis'' var. ''crassifolia'' is found in

California chaparral and woodlands The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is a ...

habitats in California and

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, including Cedros Island (namesake for synonym ''M. c.'' (A. Gray) var. ''cedrosensis'' (Standl.) J.F. Macbr.). The plant is also found in the Southern

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. P ...

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

foothills,

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa B ...

Peninsular Ranges The Peninsular Ranges (also called the Lower California province) are a group of mountain ranges that stretch from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges, which ...

, the White Mountains, and the Inyo Mountains. *''Mirabilis laevis'' var. ''retrorsa'' is found in the White and Inyo Mountains,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, and

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, east to

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, and south to

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and northwest Mexico. *''Mirabilis laevis'' var. ''villosa'' has a similar distribution to ''Mirabilis laevis'' var. ''retrorsa''.UC—Jepson: ''Mirabilis laevis'' var. ''villosa''
. accessed 6.16.2012

References

*Spellenberg, R. & S. R. Rodriguez Tijerina. (2001). Geographic variation and taxonomy of North American species of ''Mirabilis'', section Oxybaphoides (Nyctaginaceae). ''Sida'' 19:3 539–570.

External links

Jepson Herbarium—Jepson Flora Project: ''Mirabilis laevis''

USDA Plants Profile
laevis Flora of Arizona Flora of California Flora of Oregon Flora of Nevada Flora of Utah Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora of Northwestern Mexico Flora of Oaxaca Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Flora of the California desert regions Night-blooming plants Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Caryophyllales-stub