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Abronia mellifera

honey scented sand-verbena, white sand-verbena

Ramshaw Meadows abronia, Ramshaw Meadows sand verbena

Habit Plants perennial. Plants perennial.
Stems

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

prostrate, well branched, forming small mats, elongate, viscid-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 1–2 cm;

blade orbiculate-oval, 0.4–1 × 0.3–0.5 cm, margins entire, plane, 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 shorter than subtending petiole;

bracts lanceolate to ovate, 2–3 × 1–2 mm, papery, glandular-pubescent;

flowers 1–5.

Perianth

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

tube whitish, 10–18 mm, limb white to lavender-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.

narrowly obovate in profile, 3–4 × 2–3 mm, thin, coriaceous, apex broadly conic;

wings absent or 5-angled.

Abronia mellifera

Abronia alpina

Phenology Flowering spring–fall. Flowering summer.
Habitat Sandy soils, cold desert scrub, grasslands Sandy soils, alpine meadows
Elevation 100-2000 m [300-6600 ft] 2600-3000 m [8500-9800 ft]
Distribution
map from FNA
ID; OR; UT; WA; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
map from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

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. 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. turbinata, A. umbellata, A. villosa
Name authority Douglas ex Hooker: Bot. Mag. 56: plate 2879. (1829) Brandegee: Bot. Gaz. 27: 456. (1899)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 65. Treatment author: Leo A. Galloway. FNA vol. 4, p. 69. Treatment author: Leo A. Galloway.
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