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Abronia (plant)
Encyclopedia
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of about 20 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of annual
Annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
or perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
herbaceous
Herbaceous
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
plants in the family Nyctaginaceae
Nyctaginaceae
Nyctaginaceae, the Four O'Clock Family, is a family of around 33 genera and 290 species of flowering plants, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, with a few representatives in temperate regions...
. Despite the common names, they are not related to Verbena (vervains) or lantana
Lantana
Lantana is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in numerous areas, especially in the Australian-Pacific region. The genus includes both...
s in the family Verbenaceae
Verbenaceae
Verbenaceae, commonly known as the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell.Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that...
. They are closely allied with Tripterocalyx
Tripterocalyx
Tripterocalyx is a small genus of flowering plants in the four o'clock family. It contains four species formerly included in the closely related genus Abronia, the sand-verbenas. These plants are native to North America, especially the dry desert southwest of the United States...
.
They are native to western North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, from Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, south to west Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Baja California and central Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, growing on dry sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
y soils. Abronia macrocarpa, a Texas endemic, is protected under the Endangered Species Act. Abronia ammophila
Abronia ammophila
Abronia ammophila, the Yellowstone sand verbena, is a plant unique to Yellowstone National Park lakeshores and is endemic to the park....
, the Yellowstone sand verbena, is a plant unique to Yellowstone National Park’s
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
lakeshores and is endemic to the park. Only a few species are widespread, and many are quite rare. They make very attractive garden plants for hot, dry sandy sites.
Selected species
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Abronia macrocarpa Abronia macrocarpa is a rare species of flowering plant known by the common name large-fruited sand verbena. It is endemic to eastern Texas, where it is known from three counties. It inhabits harsh, open sand dunes on savannas, growing in deep, poor soils. It was first collected in 1968 and... L.A.Galloway Abronia maritima Abronia maritima is a species of sand verbena known by the common name red sand verbena. This is a beach-adapted perennial plant native to the coastlines of southern California, including the Channel Islands, and northern Baja California... Nutt. ex S.Watson Abronia mellifera Abronia mellifera is a species of sand verbena known by the common name white sand verbena. This is a perennial plant native to the north western United States, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah.... Douglas ex Hook. Abronia pogonantha Abronia pogonantha is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common name Mojave sand verbena. It is native to California and Nevada, where it grows in the Mojave Desert, adjacent hills and mountains, and parts of the San Joaquin Valley in the Central Valley.This is an... Heimerl Abronia turbinata Abronia turbinata is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common name transmontane sand-verbena. It is native to eastern California and Oregon and western Nevada, where it grows in desert and plateau scrub.... Torr. ex S.Watson Abronia umbellata Abronia umbellata is a flowering perennial plant native to the western United States. Other common names include Beach Sand Verbena and Purple Sand Verbena.-Distribution:... Lam.
Abronia villosa Abronia villosa is a species of sand-verbena known by the common name desert sand-verbena. It is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico and the southern California and Baja coast.-Description:... S.Watson
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Formerly placed here
- Tripterocalyx carneus (Greene) L.A.Galloway (as A. carnea Greene)
- Tripterocalyx crux-maltaeTripterocalyx crux-maltaeTripterocalyx crux-maltae is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common name Lassen sand-verbena. It is native to a section of the Great Basin straddling the far northern California-Nevada border, where it grows in sagebrush habitat. It is nearly endemic to Nevada,...
(Kellogg) Standl. (as A. crux-maltae Kellogg) - Tripterocalyx micranthusTripterocalyx micranthusTripterocalyx micranthus is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common name smallflower sand-verbena. It is native to North America, where it is known from southern Alberta and Saskatchewan through a section of the central United States toward the desert southwest...
(Torr.) Hook. (as A. micrantha Torr.) - Tripterocalyx wootonii Standl. (as A. wootonii (Standl.) Tidestr.)
Cultivation and uses
The stout, sweet root of Abronia fragransAbronia fragrans
Abronia fragrans is a species of sand verbena.-Description:...
and Abronia latifolia
Abronia latifolia
The perennial flower Abronia latifolia is a species of sand-verbena known commonly as the coastal, or yellow sand-verbena. It is native to the west coast of North America, from southern California to the Canadian border....
, sometimes over 60 cm long, can be eaten as a root vegetable
Root vegetable
Root vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. Here "root" means any underground part of a plant.Root vegetables are generally storage organs, enlarged to store energy in the form of carbohydrates. They differ in the concentration and the balance between sugars, starches, and other types of...
.