Abronia alpina

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Nyctaginaceae

Herbs, shrubs , trees , or sometimes spiny vines . Leaves opposite, alternate, or whorled ; stipules absent; petiole usually present, well defined; leaf blade simple , herbaceous or slightly fleshy , margin entire. Inflorescences mostly terminal , less often axillary , of cymes, umbels, or verticils , sometimes 1-flowered or fasciculate, often grouped into panicles; bracts often inconspicuous, sometimes forming calyxlike involucre, or large and brightly colored . Flowers bisexual , rarely unisexual or polygamous, actinomorphic . Perianth constricted beyond the ovary, base persistent , closely enclosing ovary which appears inferior, limb petaloid beyond constriction, tubular , funnelform , or campanulate , apex 5-10-lobed, lobes plicate or valvate in bud, persistent or caducous . Disk absent. Stamens (1-) 3-5(-many), hypogynous, free or connate at base, involute in bud; anthers 2-loculed, dehiscence longitudinal . Ovary superior, 1-loculed; ovule 1. Style 1; stigma globose . Fruit an achenelike anthocarp enclosed by persistent perianth, ribbed or winged , often glandular . Seed 1; endosperm present; embryo straight or curved .

About 30 genera and 300 species: tropics and subtropics, mainly in tropical America; six genera (two introduced ) and 13 species (one endemic, three introduced) in China.[1]

Genus Abronia

Herbs, annual or perennial , sometimes cespitose or appearing acaulescent , usually viscid-pubescent, from slender to stout taproot (extensively rhizomatous in Abronia bolackii). Stems prostrate to erect , unarmed , without glutinous bands on internodes. Leaves usually basal and cauline (all basal in A. bigelovii and A. nana), unequal in each pair, petiolate ; blade ± thick and succulent, base usually asymmetric . Inflorescences axillary (appearing scapose in A. bigelovii and A. nana), pedunculate , capitate clusters , with peripheral flowers usually opening first; receptacle slightly rounded to conic, without pedicel-like projections; bracts persistent , not accrescent , 5-10, distinct , forming involucre, lanceolate to broadly ovate , thinly papery or scarious , translucent , occasionally thin and green. Flowers bisexual , chasmogamous ; perianth radially symmetric , funnelform or salverform , constricted distal to ovary, abruptly expanded to 5-lobed limb; stamens 5-9, included ; styles included; stigmas linear . Fruits winged or not, usually fusiform or turbinate , in profile rhombic , cordate, or obdeltate, coriaceous , glabrate to viscid puberulent ; wings 2-5, opaque , subtly veined, not or only slightly extending beyond apex or base of body, distal margins sometimes dilated and flattened, broader than lamina, interior hollow, forming cavity , or filled with spongy tissue ; sulci smooth or slightly rugose .

Species ca. 20: North America, Mexico.

Mature to near-mature fruits are usually required for identification of Abronia species because of the variation of vegetative structures within each taxon . Abronia appears to be in a state of active evolution. Cross-pollination readily occurs in the greenhouse, producing a variety of hybrids. Hybridization occasionally occurs in the field .[2]

Physical Description

Habitat

Sandy soils, alpine meadows; of conservation concern; 2600-3000 m. [source]

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 3-6" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 7.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Taxonomy

Notes

Publishing author : Brandegee Publication : Bot. Gaz. 27: 456 1899

Similar Species

Members of the genus Abronia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 40 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

A. alba (Whiteflower Sand Verbena) · A. alpina (Ramshaw Meadow Abronia) · A. ameliae (Amelia Sand Verbena) · A. ammophila (Tweedy's Sand Verbena) · A. angustifolia (Narrow-Leaf Sandverbena) · A. argillosa (Clay Sand Verbena) · A. aurita (Cope's Arboreal Alligator Lizard) · A. bigelovii (Galisteo Sand Verbena) · A. bolackii (Bolacks Sand Verbena) · A. carletoni (Carleton's Sand Verbena) · A. carletonii (Carleton's Sand Verbena) · A. elliptica (Dwarf Sandverbena) · A. fragrans (Four Oclock) · A. gracilis (Narrow Sandverbena) · A. insularis (Island Sand Verbena) · A. latifolia (Coastal Sand Verbena) · A. macrocarpa (Large-Fruited Sand Verbena) · A. maritima (Red Sand Verbena) · A. mellifera (Honey-Scent Sand Verbena) · A. minor (Little Sand Verbena) · A. nana (Dwarf Sand Verbena) · A. nana covillei (Coville's Dwarf Abronia) · A. nana S.Watson var. harrisii Welsh (Harris' Dwarf Sand Verbena) · A. nana S.Watson var. nana S.Watson (Dwarf Sand Verbena) · A. nana var. covillei (Coville's Dwarf Sand Verbena) · A. nana var. harrisii (Harris' Dwarf Sand Verbena) · A. nana var. nana (Dwarf Sand Verbena) · A. neurophylla (Beach Sand Verbena) · A. platyphylla (Broadleaf Sand Verbena) · A. pogonantha (Mojave Sand Verbena) · A. turbinata (Trans Montane Abronia) · A. umbellata (Pink Sand Verbena) · A. umbellata breviflora (Pink Sand Verbena) · A. umbellata variabilis (Beach Sandverbena) · A. umbellata var. umbellata (Sand-Verbena) · A. umbellata subsp. breviflora (Pink Sand Verbena) · A. umbellata subsp. variabilis (Variable Pink Sand Verbena) · A. villosa (Desert Sand Verbena) · A. villosa var. aurita (Sand Verbena) · A. villosa var. villosa (Wooly Desert Sand Verbena)

More Info

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Further Reading

• 1997 IUCN red list of threatened plants Cambridge: IUCN, World Conservation Union, 1998 url p. 435.
• A flora of California, by Willis Linn Jepson. San Francisco, Calif., Cunningham, Curtis & Welch, 1909- url p. 456.
• A report upon the boreal flora of the Sierra Nevada of California / by Frank Jason Smiley. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1921. url p. 172.
• An illustrated flora of the Pacific States: Washington, Oregon, and California. Stanford University, Stanford University Press, 1923-[60] url p. 108, p. 111, p. 112.
• Britton, N. L. (ed.). North American flora. 21 1918 [New York]New York Botanical Garden. url p. 243, p. 245.
• Leaflets of western botany. San Fransisco:[J. T. Howell], 1932-1966. url p. 102, p. 260, p. 290.
• University of California publications in botany. Berkeley, Calif., University of California Press, 1902-2001. url p. 172.
• Lu Dequan. 1996. Nyctaginaceae. In: Tang Changlin, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 26: 114.
• Galloway, L. A. 1975. Systematics of North American desert species of Abronia and Tripterocalyx. Brittonia 27: 328-347.
• Tillett, S. S. 1967. The maritime species of Abronia (Nyctaginaceae). Brittonia 19: 299-327.

Notes

Contributors

• "Abronia alpina". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 62, 69. Published by Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.
• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 9, 2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 28, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 2 providers.
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
• The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Dec 27, 2011.
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 24, 2008)
• USDA, NRCS. 2005. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 28, 2008:

• Berkeley Natural History Museums: University and Jepson Herbaria DiGIR provider
• USDA PLANTS: USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2646058
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-19551
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:603957-1
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 19551
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 53-2
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDNYC01020
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: ABAL
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1532

Footnotes

1. Dequan Lu & Michael G. Gilbert "Nyctaginaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 430. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. Leo A. Galloway "Abronia". in Flora of North America Vol. 4 Page 16, 61. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.