Abronia elliptica

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

Overview

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 or gravelly soils, desert grasslands, scrub ; 700-2500 m (Ref. 104586).

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 6.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b. (map)

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Abronia fragrans Nutt. ex Hook. f. elliptica (A.Nelson) Heimerl • Abronia fragrans Nuttall ex Hooker var. elliptica (A. Nelson) M. E. Jones • Abronia fragrans var. elliptica (A. Nels.) M. E. Jones • Abronia nana S. Watson Var. harrisii S. L. Welsh • Abronia pumila Rydb. • Abronia ramosa Standl. • Abronia salsa Rydb.

Notes

Publishing author : A.Nelson Publication : Bull . Torrey Bot. Club 26: 7 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

• Brigham Young University science bulletin. 9 1968 Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, [1955-1976] url p. 268.
• Britton, N. L. (ed.). North American flora. 21 1918 [New York]New York Botanical Garden. url p. 251.
• Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 29 1902 New York: Torrey Botanical Club, 1870-1996 url p. 682, p. 684, p. 685, p. 7.
• Contributions from the New York Botanical Garden. New York: The Garden, 1899- url p. 682, p. 685.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 25 1925 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 183, p. 321, p. 322, p. V, p. XVI.
• Flora of Colorado, Fort Collins, Col., Experiment Station, 1906. url .
• Flora of Colorado, by P. A. Rydberg, PH. D. Fort Collins, Col., Experiment Station, 1906. url p. 123.
• Flora of Colorado, by P.A. Rydberg. Fort Collins, Col., Experiment Station, 1906. url p. 123, p. 123.
• Flora of the Rocky Mountains and adjacent plains, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and neighboring parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and British Columbia / by P.A. Rydberg. New York: The author, 1922. url p. 256.
• Key to the Rocky Mountain flora. Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and British Columbia. New York, [c1919] url .
• Key to the Rocky Mountain flora; Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and British Columbia. New York, 1919. url p. 79.
• New manual of botany of the central Rocky mountains (vascular plants) Cincinnati [etc.]American Book Company[c1909] url .
• North American fauna. Washington: Fish and Wildlife Service; for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U. S. Govt. Print. Off. url p. 16, p. 28, p. 83.
• Notes on western range forbs: Equisetaceae through Fumariaceae / by William A. Dayton. Washington, D.C.: Forest Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1960. url p. 106.
• Rocky mountain flowers; an illustrated guide for plantlovers and plant-users; with twenty-five plates in color and twenty-one plates in black and white [by] Frederic Edward Clements...and Edith Schwartz Clements... 1914 New York city, the H.W. Wilson company, 1914. url p. 69.
• Studies on Rocky Mountain flora. New York, New York Botanical Garden, 1899-1913. url p. 684, p. 685.
• The Great Basin naturalist. 48 1988 Provo, Utah: M.L. Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University, 1939-1999. url p. 113, p. 157, p. 26, p. 296, p. 3, welsh & goodrich, page 78, p. 80, p. 81, p. 85.
• 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

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 9, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 01, 2008:

• School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database
• University of Colorado Museum, Zoological specimens
• Utah State University, USU-UTC Specimen Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2646063
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-19556
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 19556
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 603978-1
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDNYC01080
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: ABSA3
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 69701

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.