Allionia incarnata – Trailing Windmills

Allionia incarnata - Trailing Windmills, Trailing Four O'Clock

Allionia incarnata - Trailing Windmills, Trailing Four O'Clock

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Allionia incarnata

Common Names: Trailing Windmills, Trailing Four O'Clock

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual, Perennial

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert, Upland

Flower Color: Purplish pink to magenta

Flowering Season: Spring, Summer, Fall

Height: Trailing up to 5 feet (1.5 m) long

Description: Each 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide flower is actually a cluster of 3 bilaterally symmetric flowers. The flowers emerge from the leaf axils and have deeply scalloped petals. The flowers are followed by 5-ribbed fruit with a deeply convex stem end and 0 (common) to 4 teeth on each rib. The leaves are green, hairy, oval-shaped, and paired opposite each other but unequal in size. The leaves near the base of the plant are the largest. The stems are plump, trailing, and often reddish in color. Both the leaves and stems are hairy and sticky.

The less common, but very similar Annual Windmills (Allionia choisyi) has smaller, often paler flowers and fruit with a shallowly convex stem end and 4 to 8 teeth on each rib.

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: Allionia L. – windmills
Species: Allionia incarnata L. – trailing windmills

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map