Abronia fragrans |
Abronia ameliae |
|
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fragrant verbena, fragrant white sand-verbena, heart's-delight, snowball sand-verbena |
amelia's sand verbena, heart's delight |
|
Habit | Plants perennial. | Plants perennial. |
Stems | procumbent to semierect, slightly to moderately branched, elongate, sometimes reddish at base and nodes, glandular-pubescent, viscid. |
procumbent to semierect, slightly to moderately branched, elongate, often reddish at nodes, viscid. |
Leaves | petiole 0.5–8 cm; blade ovate to triangular or lanceolate, 3–12 × 1–8 cm, margins entire to subsinuate and slightly undulate, adaxial surface glandular-pubescent, abaxial surface more densely and longer pubescent, or sometimes villous. |
petiole 1–9 cm; blade deltate-ovate to elliptic, 2–8 × 2–6.5 cm, margins repand to sinuate, frequently undulate, adaxial surface glandular-puberulent, abaxial surface glandular-pubescent. |
Inflorescences | peduncle longer than subtending petiole; bracts linear-lanceolate to oval-ovate, 7–25 × 2–12 mm, scarious, glandular-puberulent to short villous; flowers 30–80. |
peduncle longer than subtending petiole; bracts ovate to elliptic, 5–16 × 2–10 mm, papery, glandular-pubescent; flowers 20–75. |
Perianth | tube greenish to reddish purple, 10–25 mm, limb white, (2–)6–10 mm diam. |
tube magenta, 12–25 mm, limb bright magenta, 8–10 mm diam. |
Fruits | winged or not, fusiform and appearing deeply grooved when wingless, when wings not distorted, fruit ± cordate in profile, tapered at base, with prominent beak in broad notch at apex, 5–12 × 2.5–7 mm, indurate, rugose veined or, if wings distorted, fruit ± rhombic in profile and tapered at both ends, or obdeltate and truncate at apex, with prominent beak; wings 4–5, thick, narrow, not dilated at apex, cavities extending throughout; peripheral fruits often distorted, S-shaped in lateral view. |
narrowly turbinate, 6–9 × 3–4.5 mm, ± 2 times as long as wide, scarious, base attenuate, rounded or truncate at apex, with a broadly conic beak; wings 5, finely reticulate, thin walled, narrow, cavities extending throughout. |
Abronia fragrans |
Abronia ameliae |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring–fall. | Flowering winter–spring. |
Habitat | Dry sandy soils, scrub and grasslands | Sandy soils, live-oak grasslands |
Elevation | 400-2000 m (1300-6600 ft) | 0-100 m (0-300 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; KS; MT; ND; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; UT; WY; Mexico (Chihuahua)
|
TX |
Discussion | Abronia ameliae has limited cultivation as an ornamental in southern Texas. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 63. | FNA vol. 4, p. 63. |
Parent taxa | Nyctaginaceae > Abronia | Nyctaginaceae > Abronia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Nuttall ex Hooker: Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 5: 261. (1853) | Lundell: Wrightia 1: 54. (1945) |
Web links |