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Abronia mellifera

honey scented sand-verbena, white sand-verbena

Mohave sand verbena, Mojave sand verbena

Habit Plants perennial. Plants annual.
Stems

decumbent to ascending, much branched, elongate, glabrous or glandular-pubescent.

decumbent to ascending, little to moderately branched, elongate, glandular-pubescent.

Leaves

petiole 1–6 cm;

blade ovate to lance-elliptic, 1–6 × 0.5–4 cm, margins entire to sinuate and ± undulate, surfaces glabrous or glandular-pubescent.

petiole 0.8–4 cm;

blade ovate to oblong-ovate, 2–5 × 1.5–3.5 cm, margins entire to ± sinuate and undulate, surfaces glandular-pubescent.

Inflorescences

peduncle longer than subtending petiole;

bracts lanceolate to obovate, 5–12 × 1–5 mm, papery, glabrate to glandular-pubescent;

flowers 25–60.

peduncle longer than subtending petiole;

bracts lanceolate to broadly ovate, 4–9 × 1.8–6 mm, papery, puberulent to glandular-pubescent, often villous basally;

flowers 12–24.

Perianth

tube pale rose proximally to greenish distally, 15–25 mm, limb white, 7–12 mm diam.

tube rose red, at least basally, 10–20 mm, limb white to pink, 6–8 mm diam.

Fruits

winged, broadly obdeltate or cordate in profile, 6–10 × 4–10 mm, thin, usually coriaceous, rarely indurate, base attenuate, apex prominently beaked;

wings (2–)5 (when 2, folded to form single deep groove), without dilations, broad, thin, without cavities.

winged, broadly cordate or ± round in profile, 4–6 × 4–6 mm, coriaceous, apex deeply notched with small beak;

wings 2(–3), infrequently partially folded together, without dilations, interior spongy.

Abronia mellifera

Abronia pogonantha

Phenology Flowering spring–fall. Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Sandy soils, cold desert scrub, grasslands Sandy soils, Joshua tree desert scrub
Elevation 100-2000 m (300-6600 ft) 100-1600 m (300-5200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; OR; UT; WA; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 65. 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. fragrans, A. latifolia, A. macrocarpa, A. maritima, 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. turbinata, A. umbellata, A. villosa
Name authority Douglas ex Hooker: Bot. Mag. 56: plate 2879. (1829) Heimerl: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 11: 87, plate 2, fig. 4. (1889)
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