Abronia latifolia

Coastal sand verbena

Family: Nyctaginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Coastal sand verbena is a California native perennial found in northern coastal, central coastal, and northern southern coastal regions of California, particularly in Santa Barbara County, inhabiting coastal dunes and scrub at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering from May to October, this plant produces yellow flowers with yellow-green perianth tubes, forming dense clusters up to 34 blooms. Growing as a prostrate herb forming a dense mat, it spreads up to 2 meters with short branches and thick, fleshy stems. Its thick leaves are broadly ovate to kidney-shaped, measuring 2 to 5 centimeters long with petioles 1 to 6 centimeters in length. The fruit is 8 to 15 millimeters long with net-like veining, tapering to its base and potentially featuring subtle hair coverage.

Habitat: Coastal dunes, scrub

Bloom period: May-Oct

Elevation: < 100 m

Bioregions: NCo, CCo, n SCo (Santa Barbara Co.)

California counties: Humboldt, Mendocino, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Sonoma, Marin, Alameda, Del Norte, Butte

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.