Plant Name
Scientific Name: Mirabilis laevis
Synonym: Mirabilis bigelovii
Common Name: Desert Wishbone-bush
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Subshrub, Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert
Flower Color: Pale pink, White
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer, Fall
Height: To 30 inches (76 cm) tall
Description: The flowers are broadly funnel-shaped, 1 inch (2.5 cm) across, a darker pink color near the center, and have rounded, ruffled lobes and up-curved stamens. The flowers open in the evening and wilt by midmorning. The leaves are green, glandular-hairy, opposite, and oval to kidney-shaped. The stems branch to form green "wishbones" and are hairy, weak, sticky, and ascending to erect.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Caryophyllidae
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Nyctaginaceae – Four o'clock family
Genus: Mirabilis L. – four o'clock
Species: Mirabilis laevis (Benth.) Curran – desert wishbone-bush
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