Marvel of Peru

Appearance

It is a perennial, herbaceous, bushy plant that reaches stature heights of mostly 1, rarely up to 2 meters in height. It may also be grown as an annual, especially in the temperate zone. The single-seeded fruits are spherical, wrinkled and black upon maturity, having started out greenish-yellow. The stems are thick, full, quadrangular with many ramifications and rooting at the nodes. The posture is often prostrate.

A curious aspect of "M. jalapa" is that flowers with different colors grow simultaneously on the same plant. Additionally, an individual flower can be splashed with different colors. Flower patterns are referred to as sectors, flakes, and spots. A single flower can be plain yellow, red, magenta, pink, or white, or have a combination of sectors, flakes, and spots. Furthermore, different combinations of flowers and patterns can occur on different flowers of the same plant.

Habitat

"Mirabilis jalapa" hails from tropical South America, but has become naturalized throughout tropical, subtropical and temperate regions. In cooler subtropical and temperate regions, it will die back with the first frosts or as the weather cools, regrowing in the following spring from the tuberous roots. Mirabilis jalapa is native to the dry tropical regions of Central and South America: Guatemala, Mexico, Chile and Peru.

It is currently naturalized in many countries in Asia, Africa, United States, Middle East and Europe. In Réunion, "Mirabilis jalapa" was initially an ornamental species; however it became naturalized on the west coast, between 400 and 700 m altitude, and on the south coast between 0 and 700 m. It occurs in a ruderal debris area, and is relatively common in weedy sugarcane fields on the west and south coasts. Its high seed production and rapid growth allow it to cover up to 30% to 50% in cane plots.