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Abronia mellifera

honey scented sand-verbena, white sand-verbena

purple sand verbena

Habit Plants perennial. Plants annual (perennial).
Stems

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

decumbent to ascending, much branched, elongate, often reddish, glandular-pubescent, viscid.

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 1–7 cm;

blade ovate-oblong to elliptic, 1–5.5 × 0.7–3 cm, margins entire to sinuate, often ± undulate, infrequently shallowly lobed, surfaces viscid-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 oblong-lanceolate, 5–10 × 1–3 mm, papery, glandular-pubescent;

flowers 10–30.

Perianth

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

tube pink, 10–20 mm, limb bright magenta to pale pink, infrequently pale rose, 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.

broadly obdeltate in profile, 5–10 × 4–8 mm, scarious, apex narrowly tapered to a prominent beak;

wings 5, extending to or slightly beyond base of beak, truncate, with conspicuous dilations, cavities extending throughout.

Abronia mellifera

Abronia angustifolia

Phenology Flowering spring–fall. Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Sandy soils, cold desert scrub, grasslands Sandy soils, desert scrub
Elevation 100-2000 m (300-6600 ft) 300-1300 m (1000-4300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; OR; UT; WA; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; n Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Plants on gypsum flats and knolls of White Sands, New Mexico, are perennial, but may flower in their first season.

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

Source FNA vol. 4, p. 65. FNA vol. 4, p. 65.
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. 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
Synonyms A. angustifolia var. arizonica, A. torreyi
Name authority Douglas ex Hooker: Bot. Mag. 56: plate 2879. (1829) Greene: Pittonia 3: 344. (1898)
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