Wednesday, 1 February 2012

FFF11 - MARVEL OF PERU

Mirabilis jalapa (the four o'clock flower or marvel of Peru) is the most commonly grown ornamental species of Mirabilis, and is available in a range of colours. Mirabilis in Latin means wonderful and Jalapa is a town in Mexico. Mirabilis jalapa is said to have been exported from the Peruvian Andes in 1540. The flowers usually open from late afternoon onwards, then producing a strong, sweet-smelling fragrance, hence the first of its common names.


A curious aspect of this plant is that flowers of different colours can be found simultaneously on the same plant. Different colour variation in the flower and different colour flowers in same plant. Additionally, an individual flower can be splashed with different colours. Another interesting point is a colour-changing phenomenon. For example, in the yellow variety, as the plant matures, it can display flowers that gradually change to a dark pink color. Similarly white flowers can change to light violet. 


Please join me for Floral Friday Fotos by linking your flower photos below, and leave a comment once you have done so!






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22 comments:

  1. Wenche1 February 2012 at 14:26

    Beautiful. Its winter in Norway - but I`ll look trough my pictures when I'm home again :0)

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  2. Angelika Poe1 February 2012 at 14:32

    ...irgendwer muss ja Erste sein, diesmal ich *freu* und deine Blüte sieht ja auch toll aus, bei dem Wetter braucht es die Seele...

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  3. NatureFootstep1 February 2012 at 14:42

    sounds interesting. :)

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  4. beagleAnnie1 February 2012 at 16:31

    Very unique and interesting! I hope to see different colors on the same plant some day, Nick.

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    Replies
    1. Melbourne Australia Photos1 February 2012 at 16:34

      You can see a photo of the multicoloured flowers here, Annie:

      http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Mirabilis-jalapa-In-Different-Colors.jpg

      Our plant just has the single coloured magenta flowers this year, but other years plants have had multicoloured flowers.

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  5. Vhen1 February 2012 at 20:29

    wow, lovely shot! love it!

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  6. CameraCruise2 February 2012 at 00:36

    Great shot of the beautiful flower. Interesting to hear about the color.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Have a great day :O)
    Mette

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  7. Unknown2 February 2012 at 13:31

    I would like to see the different color variations on one plant! Great shot!

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  8. BernieH2 February 2012 at 19:27

    I've been wanting to grow one of these for ages now! I'll just have to get more enthusiastic in my search I think. That's a lovely shot!

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  9. Penthe2 February 2012 at 20:10

    The light in this photo is amazing! I love how the sunlight seems to suffuse the flower and leaves with life!

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  10. Andrea2 February 2012 at 20:10

    There is a flower here also called 4 0'clock because of its habit of opening at that time, and maybe it is of the same genus. Many flowers change colors during dehiscence because of the activity of carotenoids, most often it is changed to purple at the later stages. Anthocyanins are purple, they are unmasked when other colors fade.

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  11. Modern Mom2 February 2012 at 20:49

    It's so pretty.

    Pink and White Lantana

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  12. SportyMummy3 February 2012 at 04:19

    What gorgeous color this flower has...stunning. I also love how the sun is shinning just on the flower to show-off all it's beauty!

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  13. Meg3 February 2012 at 04:57

    beautiful color so vibrant!

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  14. Halcyon3 February 2012 at 06:07

    Beautiful flower! I also like that shade of pink!

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  15. Anonymous3 February 2012 at 11:42

    Vibrant ~ I love the water droplets...

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  16. Unknown3 February 2012 at 14:29

    Gorgeous! Both flower and light are fantastic! Thank you for the tip on this meme, love it.

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  17. Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪4 February 2012 at 00:43

    Your flower is from Peru, mine is from Brazil. I want to thank you for this post because I have this flower, but not posted because I don't know the name. I will join your meme.

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  18. Liz5 February 2012 at 21:01

    Lovely flower and great light. I have linked up now :)

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  19. Gianni6 February 2012 at 17:25

    Beautiful light and colours in this photo! The dewdrops inside the flower are amazing!

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  20. SandyCarlson7 February 2012 at 18:46

    Pretty!

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  21. Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪12 February 2012 at 12:23

    Leycesteria formosa (Himalayan Honeysuckle, Flowering Nutmeg,

    Nixblog, you are spot on, I check with flicker, it looks as though some one went to the same spot as me amd photographed the flowers.

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