Abronia umbellata

Beach sand verbena

Family: Nyctaginaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Beach sand verbena is a California native perennial found along the coastal regions in sandy or dune habitats near the Pacific Ocean. Flowering from March to October, this plant produces light to dark magenta flowers with a white to cream throat, clustered in umbel-like groups of 10 to 27 blossoms. Growing as a prostrate herb spreading over 1 meter long with slender, generally erect stems, it creates low-growing mats across sandy landscapes. Its leaves are distinctive, with broad ovate to diamond-shaped blades 15 to 70 millimeters long and 8 to 50 millimeters wide, attached to slender petioles. The fruit is glandular-hairy at its base, developing distinctive wings that help distinguish this characteristic coastal plant.

California counties: San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Ventura, San Diego, Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, San Mateo, Orange, Humboldt, San Bernardino, Alameda, Mendocino, Del Norte, Sonoma, Marin, Inyo, Riverside

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