Skip to main content

Marvel of Peru (Mirabilis jalapa)

Marvel of Peru or four o'clock flower (Mirabilis jalapa) is a plant species in the Nyctaginaceae, herbaceous perennial, 20-80 cm high, thick stem, quadrangular with many branches and rooted in knots and postures often flat, tubers blackish brown with a white filling and elongated round shape with a size of 7–9 cm and 2–5 cm in diameter

M. jalapa has blackish brown tubers, white inside, elongated round shape, 7-9 cm long and 2-5 cm in diameter. Leaves are heart-shaped, green, 2-11 cm long and 1-7 cm wide. Leaf base rounded, tapered tip and flat edge. Leaf stalks are 1-6 cm long.

Dlium Marvel of Peru (Mirabilis jalapa)


The flowers are trumpet-shaped and come in many colors including red, white and yellow. Single seeded fruit, round, hard, wrinkled, yellow-green when young and black when ripe. Fruit can be made as a powder.

It is called the four o'clock flower because it usually blooms at four o'clock in the afternoon due to light stimulation or photonasty. This plant is included in the Dicotyledones class because it has two pieces of seeds, petals with multiples of 4-5 and finger veins.



The flower contains eight betaxanthins (indicaxanthin, vulgaxanthin-I, miraxanthin-I, II, III, IV, V and VI). The root contains rotenoid (mirabijalone A, B, C and D, 9-O-methyl-4-hydroxyboeravinone B, boeravinone C and boeravinone F, and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-methylisoquinoline-7,8-diol ). The seeds contain fatty acids (8-hydroxyoctadeca-cis-11,14-dienoic acid). The methanol extract produces β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, ursolic acid, oleanolic acid and brassicasterol.



The plant extract has antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans and moderate activity as an inhibitor of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Flowers are processed into fresh drinks. The content of betaxanthis, fatty acid substances and oil acid substances can be used as drugs to improve blood circulation and diuretics. Plants are also used to relieve tonsillitis, sore throat, coughing up blood, cancer, kidney stones, gallstones and diabetes, dysentery, infected wounds, bee stings and scorpions.

The leaves are used to reduce inflammation, treat abscesses and treat wounds. The seeds are considered toxic but can be powdered as a cosmetic and dye. The dried flower powder is used to treat headaches and the root decoction is used to wash wounds and treat skin conditions such as leprosy. The juice extracted from the flowers is used for herpes lesions and earaches. The juice extracted from the root is used to treat earaches, diarrhoea, dysentery, syphilis, liver infections and as a laxative.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Nyctaginaceae
Genus: Mirabilis
Species: Mirabilis jalapa
Variety: Mirabilis jalapa var. jalapa, Mirabilis jalapa var. oaxacana

Comments

Popular

Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia)

Sonokeling or Java palisandre or Indian rosewood ( Dalbergia latifolia ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae, a large tree producing hardwood, medium weight and high quality, rounded leaves, thin and broad pods, highly adaptive, grows in dry and rocky landscapes with lots of sunlight. D. latifolia has medium to large size, cylindrical stems, up to 40 m high with a ring of up to 2 m, the bark is brownish gray and slightly cracked longitudinally. The crown is dense, dome-shaped and sheds leaves. The leaves are compound and pinnate oddly with 5-7 strands that have different sizes and appear alternately on the shaft. The leaves are round or elongated in width or heart, the upper surface is green and the surface is pale green. The flowers are small, 0.5-1 cm long and clustered in panicles. The pods are green to brown when ripe and are elongated lanceolate, pointed at the base and tip. The pods have 1-4 seeds which are soft and brownish. Indian rosewood grows at elevations below 600 m,

Dry Valleys on Antarctic continent is the driest place in the world

The Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the world, rainfall is very low, only stretches of sand and rocks without rivers and plants further strengthen the view of drought. However, it turns out that the place is not the driest place in the world. Dry Valleys in Antarctica, although the continent is covered in ice, but has one part that is completely dry. Although the average rainfall in most of the Sahara Desert is less than 20 millimeters per year, there are still drier places. Dry Valleys in Antarctica is much drier where the average rainfall is 0 millimeters per year and gets the title of the driest place in the world. The valleys have so low humidity that there is almost no ice. This is the largest ice free place on the Antarctic continent. The area is surrounded by mountains that block ice from flowing into the valley. Drought is also caused by strong katabalic gusts from mountain peaks where cold air blows down the hill due to gravity. The wind has speeds of up to 322 k

Lawe (Abroma augustum)

Lawe or devil's cotton ( Abroma augustum ) is a plant species in Malvaceae, a small tree or bush that is erect, up to 10 m tall but generally 2-3 m tall, stems and twigs covered with star hair that are sharp, brittle and cause skin itching, sometimes also with glandular hair. A. augustum has a single leaf, alternating, has a long stalk, a heart-shaped base, a pointed tip with a very variable base whose leaves near the base of the branch have a circular shape from the egg to the heart, 3-5 curves, diameter 20-37 cm, while the leaves near the tips of twigs have elongated shapes with smooth toothed edges. The flowers gather in cymes at the tips of the twigs or face leaves, 1-4 buds, 1-3 cm long stems and 6-8 mm bractea. Hanging flowers, 3-5 cm in diameter, 5 angles and 1-3.5 cm long stems. The petals have 5 leaves, share a deep, triangular, 15-20 mm long, 6 mm wide and greenish. The crown has 5 leaves, spoon-shaped, 2-3.5 cm long, 1 cm wide, dark purple or red or yellow, concave an