''Mirabilis rotundifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common name roundleaf four o'clock. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

in the United States, where it is limited to the south-central part of the state. It occurs in the

Arkansas River Valley The Arkansas River Valley, also known as the Arkansas Valley, is a region in Arkansas defined by the Arkansas River in the western part of the state. Generally defined as the area between the The Ozarks, Ozark and Ouachita Mountains, the River V ...

in Fremont,

Pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

,''Mirabilis rotundifolia''.
Center for Plant Conservation. and Las Animas Counties. This perennial herb has hairy erect or upright stems measuring 20 to 30 centimeters long. The leaves have thick oval or round blades up to 7 centimeters long by 6 wide. The branching

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

has bell-shaped involucres each containing three purple-pink flowers about a centimeter wide.''Mirabilis rotundifolia''.
Flora of North America. The flowers open in the morning and close by mid-morning or mid-day. The hairy fruit is about half a centimeter long. This plant grows on the Smoky Hill Member of the

Niobrara Formation The Niobrara Formation , also called the Niobrara Chalk, is a geologic formation in North America that was deposited between 87 and 82 million years ago during the Coniacian, Santonian, and Campanian stages of the Late Cretaceous. It is com ...

, generally on outcrops of

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

. The habitat is mostly barren terrain in shrubland and woodland ecosystems. Associated species include '' Frankenia jamesii''. The main threat to this rare species is residential development. There are 29 occurrences, but only 12 are in good condition.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4295495 rotundifolia Flora of Colorado