Ramshaw Meadows sand verbena

Description

Abronia alpina is a rare species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common names Ramshaw Meadows sand verbena and Ramshaw Meadows abronia. It is endemic to Tulare County, California, where it is known from only one area high in the Sierra Nevada. This is a small, squat perennial herb which forms a flat to mounded mat on the floor of alpine meadow habitat. The leaves have rounded blades each less than a centimeter long at the ends of short petioles. The foliage and stems are fuzzy and glandular. The plant blooms in clusters of up to five white to pink or lavender flowers around a centimeter wide and long. Abronia, the sand-verbenas or wild lantanas, is a genus of about 20 species of annual or perennial herbaceous plants in the family Nyctaginaceae. Despite the common names, they are not related to Verbena (vervains) or lantanas in the family Verbenaceae. They are closely allied with Tripterocalyx. They are native to western North America, from Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, south to west Texas, California, Baja California and central Mexico, growing on dry sandy soils. Abronia macrocarpa, a Texas endemic, is protected under the Endangered Species Act. Abronia ammophila, the Yellowstone sand verbena, is a plant unique to Yellowstone National Park's lakeshores and is endemic to the park. Only a few species are widespread, and many are quite rare. They make very attractive garden plants for hot, dry sandy sites.