Four O’clocks in February

Beach dunes and chaparrals are a good place to look for wildflowers during February in southern California. You'll find a variety of species there you won't find anywhere else, at any other time. One family well represented is the Four O'clock Family (Nyctaginaceae.) It includes the sand verbenas (Mirabilis) and Four O'clocks (Abronia,) as well the popular ornamental species of Bougainvillea.

Species found along or near the southern California coast include Yellow Sand Verbena (A. latifolia,) Beach Pancake (A. maritima,) Beach Sand Verbena (A. umbellate,) Desert Sand Verbena (A. villosa,) and Coast Four O'clock (M. laevis.) Hiking around Crystal Cove in Newport Beach, and Torrey Pines near San Diego, my wife and I found Beach Pancake, Beach Sand Verbena and Coast Four O'clock in bloom. They're all trailing plants with bursts of colorful flowers and were a nice surprise in all that sand.

Beach Pancake is a fleshy herbaceous perennial that grows in prostrate mats on well-developed beach dunes. It has deep red flowers, and is in bloom from February till October. It does best where there is minimal foot traffic, which is harmful to otherwise stabile dunes.

As you might suspect, Beach Pancake is declining in coastal southern California. Too many people having too much fun spell too little healthy habitat for it. It does get reintroduced in places where the public is verboten from having access, so there's always hope.

It does hybridize with pink-blossomed Beach Sand Verbena and yellow-blossomed Yellow Sand Verbena. Beach Sand Verbena has thin elongated oval leaves while Beach Pancake has thick, fleshy leaves (hence the name.) It has a much longer blooming period than Beach Pancake, blooming throughout most of the year. (Yellow Sand Verbena does not bloom until the spring.) Coast Four O'clock, also known as Wishbone Bush, blooms from December into June. It has small oval leaves, and several rosy-pink flowers clustered at each branch tip. It is a perennial, and "dies back" after flowering. ("Dies back" ... I haven't used that expression ... I haven't even thought of that expression since I left behind my garden back in Ohio, four years ago. Sigh...)

The family resemblance is great among these species, and identifying them can be a poser. They are not big showy things, but are no less lovely; blushes of pink and purple on the pallid cheeks of the sand dunes. And as an early season wildflower, they are a subtle hint at things to come ... and many cousins will turn up in the deserts in March.

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