Abronia turbinata

Trans montane sand verbena

Family: Nyctaginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Trans montane sand verbena is a California native perennial found in southern Sierra Mountains, Sierra Nevada Foothill regions, Tehachapi Range, southern Great Basin, and Mojave Desert in dry, sandy desert scrub habitats at elevations of 900 to 2,500 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces white to pale magenta flowers in clusters of 15 to 35 blooms, with a perianth tube 6 to 18 millimeters long. Growing with ascending to erect stems less than 50 centimeters tall, it remains glabrous or sparsely glandular-hairy. Its leaves are broadly ovate or heart-shaped to round, with slender petioles 1 to 5 centimeters long and leaf blades 1 to 5 centimeters wide. The fruit features distinctive thick, hollow wings that are generally inflated or sometimes collapsed and folded together, measuring 3 to 8 millimeters long.

Habitat: Dry, sandy soil, desert scrub

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 900-2500 m

Bioregions: s MP (Sierra Valley), s SNF, WTR, SNE, DMoj

California counties: San Bernardino, Mono, Kern, Ventura, Inyo, Lassen, Butte, Sierra

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