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annual abronia, trans montane abronia, trans montane sand verbena

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

Habit Plants annual, infrequently perennial. Plants perennial.
Stems

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

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

Leaves

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.

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.

Inflorescences

peduncle longer than subtending petiole;

bracts lanceolate to ovate, 3–10 × 1–5 mm, papery, puberulent to densely glandular-pubescent;

flowers 15–35.

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.

Perianth

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

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

Fruits

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.

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.

Abronia turbinata

Abronia fragrans

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