Perennial herbaceous plant: Four O'clock
The editor will talk about the planting content of the plant Four O'clock, a perennial herbaceous plant. Let's take a look together.
Chinese name: Four O'clock, aliases: Grass茉莉, Rouge flower, Ground thunder flower, Pink bean flower, Pink seed flower
Kingdom: Plantae, Family: Four O'clock family
Genus: Four O'clock, Flower colors: White, yellow, red, pink, purple
Flowering and fruiting period: June to November
Four O'clock is a perennial herbaceous flower, often cultivated as an annual, and can grow up to 1 meter tall. It is a tuberous plant with thick, inverted conical roots that are black or dark brown. The main stem is erect, cylindrical, branched, hairless or sparsely pubescent, with slightly swollen nodes. The endosperm in the seeds is white and fine, making it a natural ideal cosmetic. The thousand-seed weight is about 109 grams. The roots are spindle-shaped, fleshy, and the surface is dark brown.
Four O'clock has an erect main stem, 50-100 cm tall, with swollen nodes and many branches. The leaves are opposite, ovate or ovate-triangular, entire. The flowers are terminal, with only one flower in the involucre, without petals. The sepals are petal-like, trumpet-shaped, about 2.5 cm in diameter. The flowers open in the afternoon and wilt the next morning; they soon fall off. The flowers are fragrant. The petalized sepals come in various colors such as purple-red, pink, red, yellow, white, and mixed colors. The fruits are spherical, black, with longitudinal ridges and net-like textures, resembling ground mines. The leaves are opposite, ovate or ovate-triangular, 3-15 cm long, 2-9 cm wide, with acuminate tips, truncate or cordate bases, entire margins, hairless on both sides, prominent veins; the petioles are 1-4 cm long, with the upper leaves almost sessile. The flowers often cluster at the branch tips; the sepals are petal-like, the style is 1-2 mm long; the involucre is campanulate, about 1 cm long, 5-lobed. The lobes are deltoid-ovate, acuminate at the apex, hairless, with veined patterns, persistent in fruit; the perianth is purple-red, yellow, white, or mixed colors (white, yellow, and red are its varieties). The flowers are salver-shaped, the tube is 2-6 cm long, the limb is 2.5-3 cm in diameter, 5-lobed; the flowers open in the afternoon and have a fragrance. They wilt by noon the next day; there are 5 stamens, the filaments are thin and long, often extending out of the flower, the anthers are spherical; the style is single, linear, extending out of the flower. The stigma is capitate. The corolla is funnel-shaped, with wavy shallow lobes, but not divided. The fruits are spherical, 5-8 mm in diameter, leathery, black, with ridges, the surface with wrinkles, resembling ground mines.
Four O'clock is native to the tropical regions of South America, preferring a mild and humid climate, and is not cold-resistant. The aboveground parts die in winter, and in the Jiangnan region, the underground parts can safely overwinter and become perennial herbaceous flowers, sprouting new plants in the spring.
For outdoor cultivation, a deep, loose, and fertile loamy soil is required, while for pot cultivation, a general flowering plant soil can be used. It grows better in slightly shaded areas. The flowers open from dusk to dawn and close under strong sunlight. It grows and blooms well in the shade of trees in summer, and often has leaf shedding under the intense sun. It prefers a well-ventilated environment.
The above information introduces the perennial herbaceous plant Four O'clock (with pictures). If it can be helpful to you, remember to visit the website often!