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Mohave sand verbena, Mojave sand verbena

desert sand-verbena, hairy sand verbena

Habit Plants annual. Plants annual.
Stems

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

decumbent to ascending, often widely spreading, much branched in large plants, forming large, loose mats, elongate, usually with reddish tinge, glandular-pubescent to long viscid-villous.

Leaves

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.

petiole 0.5–5 cm;

blade deltate-ovate to ovate or elliptic, 1–5 × 1–4.5 cm, margins entire to sinuate and ± undulate, adaxial surface glabrous or glandular-pubescent, abaxial surface glandular-pubescent.

Inflorescences

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.

peduncle longer than subtending petiole;

bracts lanceolate to lance-ovate, 2.5–11 × 1–3 mm, papery, viscid-villous;

flowers 15–35.

Perianth

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

tube pink, 10–35 mm, limb usually magenta, with light eyespot, rarely white, 6–18 mm diam.

Fruits

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.

usually winged, ± obdeltate in profile, 5–10 × 4–15 mm, indurate, ± rugose-veined, sometimes inconspicuously so;

wings 3–5, not folded, without dilations, thin, truncate distally, equaling or extending slightly beyond conic apex of fruit body, interior spongy.

Abronia pogonantha

Abronia villosa

Phenology Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Sandy soils, Joshua tree desert scrub
Elevation 100-1600 m (300-5200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; UT; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

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

Key
1. Perianth tubes 10-20 mm; fruits strongly rugose veined
var. villosa
1. Perianth tubes 20-35 mm; fruits inconspicuously rugose veined
var. aurita
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 66. 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. mellifera, A. nana, 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. turbinata, A. umbellata
Subordinate taxa
A. villosa var. aurita, A. villosa var. villosa
Name authority Heimerl: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 11: 87, plate 2, fig. 4. (1889) S. Watson: Amer. Naturalist 7: 302. (1873)
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