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fragrant verbena, fragrant white sand-verbena, heart's-delight, snowball sand-verbena

annual abronia, trans montane abronia, trans montane sand verbena

Habit Plants perennial. Plants annual, infrequently perennial.
Stems

procumbent to semierect, slightly to moderately branched, elongate, sometimes reddish at base and nodes, glandular-pubescent, viscid.

decumbent to ascending, much branched, elongate, reddish at least basally, glandular-pubescent, rarely glabrous or viscid-pubescent.

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 1–4.5 cm;

blade broadly ovate to orbiculate, 1–5 × 0.5–3 cm, margins entire or ± repand and undulate, surfaces glabrous or sparsely 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 lanceolate to ovate, 3–10 × 1–5 mm, papery, puberulent to densely glandular-pubescent;

flowers 15–35.

Perianth

tube greenish to reddish purple, 10–25 mm, limb white, (2–)6–10 mm diam.

tube greenish to coral pink, 6–18 mm, limb white to pale pink, 5–8 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.

winged, turbinate, 3–8 × 3–6 mm, coriaceous, apex broadly tapered to prominent beak;

wings (2–)5 (when 2, folded together) truncate distally with conspicuous dilations, cavities extending throughout.

Abronia fragrans

Abronia turbinata

Phenology Flowering spring–fall. Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Dry sandy soils, scrub and grasslands Sandy soils, desert scrub
Elevation 400-2000 m (1300-6600 ft) 900-2500 m (3000-8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; KS; MT; ND; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; UT; WY; Mexico (Chihuahua)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; NV; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 63. FNA vol. 4, p. 66.
Parent taxa Nyctaginaceae > Abronia Nyctaginaceae > Abronia
Sibling taxa
A. alpina, A. ameliae, A. ammophila, A. angustifolia, A. argillosa, A. bigelovii, A. bolackii, A. carletonii, A. elliptica, A. latifolia, A. macrocarpa, A. maritima, A. mellifera, A. nana, A. pogonantha, A. turbinata, A. umbellata, A. villosa
A. alpina, A. ameliae, A. ammophila, A. angustifolia, A. argillosa, A. bigelovii, A. bolackii, A. carletonii, A. elliptica, A. fragrans, A. latifolia, A. macrocarpa, A. maritima, A. mellifera, A. nana, A. pogonantha, A. umbellata, A. villosa
Name authority Nuttall ex Hooker: Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 5: 261. (1853) Torrey ex S. Watson: Botany (Fortieth Parallel), 285, plate 31, figs. 1–5, 8, 9. (1871)
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