Mirabilis in Latin means wonderful and Jalapa (or Xalapa) is the state capital of Veracruz in Mexico.

Today, it is common in many tropical regions and is also valued in Europe as a (not hardy) ornamental plant.

A single flower can be plain yellow, red, magenta, pink, or white, or have a combination of sectors, flakes, and spots.

For example, in the yellow variety, as the plant matures, it can display flowers that gradually change to a dark pink colour.

It grows preferably in light soil, rich in humus and well draining, it is neutral side acidity (pH).

[14] Mirabilis jalapa is native to the dry tropical regions of North, Central and South America: Mexico, Guatemala, Chile and Peru.

This plant has been introduced for ornamental purposes and has become naturalized throughout tropical, subtropical and temperate regions of the world.

In cooler subtropical and temperate regions, it will die back with the first frosts or as the weather starts to cool down (especially after it fully matures and finished self-seeding), regrowing in the following spring from the tuberous roots.

He used the plant's variegated leaves to prove that certain factors outside the nucleus affected phenotype in a way not explained by Mendel's theories.

[15] Correns proposed that leaf colour in Mirabilis was passed on via a uni-parental mode of inheritance.

[16][17][18] Eight betaxanthins (indicaxanthin, vulgaxanthin-I, miraxanthin-I, II, III, IV, V and VI) can be isolated from M. jalapa flowers.

[23] Bioassay-guided fractionation of the methanolic extract of M. jalapa also led to the isolation of an active polyphenolic amide: N-trans-feruloyl 4′-O-methyldopamine.

This compound shows moderate activity as an efflux pump inhibitor against multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.