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Home/Species/ Watson's Four-o'clock

Mirabilis alipes

(S. Wats.) Pilz

Watson's Four-o'clock

G4Apparently Secure Found in 13 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G4Apparently SecureGlobal Rank
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.139721
Element CodePDNYC0A030
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVascular Plant
Endemicendemic to a single nation
KingdomPlantae
PhylumAnthophyta
ClassDicotyledoneae
OrderCaryophyllales
FamilyNyctaginaceae
GenusMirabilis
Synonyms
Hermidium alipesS. Wats.Hermidium alipes var. pallidumC.L. Porter
Concept Reference
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Conservation Status
Review Date1999-05-04
Change Date1999-12-27
Edition Date1999-05-18
Edition AuthorsFayette, Kim and Susan Spackman.
Rank Reasons
This species appears to be regularly scattered and fairly commonly distributed from California to Colorado.
Range Extent Comments
This species is known from Nevada, California, Utah and Colorado (Kartesz and BONAP 1998). More specifically it is reported from Rio Blanco County, Colorado (Weber and Wittmann 1996), Duchesne, Juab, Kane, Millard, Tooele, and Uintah counties, Utah (Welsh et al. 1993) and from the White and Inyo Mountains, California (Hickman 1993).
Occurrences Comments
There is one specimen from Rio Blanco County, Colorado at the CSU herbarium (1999). The UTNHP ranks this species an S3 but does not have any occurrences in their database (pers. comm. Ben Franklin UTNHP 1999). Based on this rank it is assumed that there are at least 20 locations. There is no specific locational information from California and Nevada.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

In Utah, this species is found in mat-saltbrush, shadscale, greasewood, mat-atriplex, Castle Valley saltbush, mixed desert shrub, and pinyon-juniper communities, especially in fine-textured substrates, at 1250 to 1985 meters (Welsh et al. 1993). In the western Great Basin, it typically occurs on calcareous alluvial fans as part of the zonal vegetation, usually with shadscale/mixed shrub or sagebrush/mixed shrub communities (pers. comm. James Morefield Nevada NHP 1999 to Kim Fayette).
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN4
ProvinceRankNative
UtahS3Yes
CaliforniaSNRYes
ColoradoS1Yes
NevadaS4Yes
Plant Characteristics
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (13)
California (4)
AreaForestAcres
Black CanyonInyo National Forest32,421
Boundary Peak (CA)Inyo National Forest210,884
PaiuteInyo National Forest58,712
Soldier CanyonInyo National Forest40,589
Nevada (9)
AreaForestAcres
Arc Dome - Secret BsnHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest74,782
Bald Mtn.Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest41,598
Boundary Peak (NV)Inyo National Forest21,851
Moriah - Smith Ck. NHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest103
Moriah - Smith Ck. SHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest45
Paradise PeakHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest18,717
Pine Grove NorthHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest8,749
Pine Grove SouthHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest88,945
QuinnHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest62,459
References (7)
  1. Colorado State University Herbarium. 1999. "Colorado State University Herbarium Database". http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Biology/Herbarium/ database.html. (May 15 1999).
  2. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2003b. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 4, Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, part 1. Oxford University Press, New York. xxiv + 559 pp.
  3. Hickman, J. C., ed. 1993. The Jepson manual: Higher plants of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. 1400 pp.
  4. Kartesz, J., and the Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 1998. A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. http://plants.usda.gov.
  5. Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
  6. Weber, W.A., and R.C. Wittmann. 1996a. Colorado flora: Eastern slope. Revised edition. Univ. Press of Colorado, Niwot, Colorado. 524 pp.
  7. Welsh, S.L., N.D. Atwood, S. Goodrich, and L.C. Higgins (eds.) 1993. A Utah flora. 2nd edition. Brigham Young Univ., Provo, Utah. 986 pp.