Tuesday, June 23, 2009

It's Four O'Clock Somewhere

First blooms of four o'clock. Pictures were taken in the morning when the spot were still shaded by a black walnut tree.

The following paragraphs are quoted from http://www.desertusa.com/mag00/feb/papr/4oclock.html :

Common Name Showy Four o'clock, Mirabilis multiflora. Mirabilis is from Latin meaning "marvelous" or "wonderful," a reference to the beauty of this plant. Multiflora means "many-flowered" in reference to the numerous flowers that can cloak the plants.

Like the common name indicates, four o'clocks bloom in the late afternoon and are open throughout the night. They may not open exactly at 4:00 p.m. and can open in the morning on cloudy days -- the clouds fool them into thinking it’s later in the afternoon. The flowers release a musky aroma several hours after opening. This attracts hawkmoths, the primary pollinator of these flowers. A hawkmoth can unfurl its long proboscis to suck up nectar that forms at the base of the funnel-shaped flower. In the morning, bees may linger in the floral tube, but they have little to do with pollination. The bees are more after pollen for themselves.




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