''Abronia'', the sand-verbenas or wild lantanas, is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of about 20

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year ** Yearbook ** Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

plants in the family

Nyctaginaceae Nyctaginaceae, the four o'clock family, is a family of around 33 genera and 290 species of flowering plants, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, with a few representatives in temperate regions. The family has a unique fruit t ...

. Despite the common names, they are not related to ''Verbena'' (

vervain ''Verbena'' (), also known as vervain or verveine, is a genus in the family Verbenaceae. It contains about 150 species of annual and perennial herbaceous or semi-woody flowering plants. The majority of the species are native to the Americas a ...

s) or

lantana ''Lantana'' () is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in numerous areas, especially in ...

s in the family

Verbenaceae The Verbenaceae ( ), the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs, and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell. The ...

. They are closely allied with '' Tripterocalyx''. They are native to western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, from

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, Canada, south to west

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, Baja California and central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, growing on dry

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

y 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 Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

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.

Selected species

Formerly placed here

* '' Tripterocalyx carneus'' (Greene) L.A.Galloway (as ''A. carnea'' Greene) * ''

Tripterocalyx crux-maltae ''Tripterocalyx crux-maltae'' is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common names Lassen sandverbena and Kellogg's sand-verbena. Distribution It is native to a section of the Great Basin straddling the far north ...

'' (Kellogg) Standl. (as ''A. crux-maltae'' Kellogg) * '' Tripterocalyx micranthus'' (Torr.) Hook. (as ''A. micrantha'' Torr.) * '' Tripterocalyx wootonii'' Standl. (as ''A. wootonii'' (Standl.) Tidestr.)

Cultivation and uses

The stout, sweet root of ''

Abronia fragrans ''Abronia fragrans'', the sweet sand-verbena, snowball sand-verbena, prairie snowball or fragrant verbena,Abronia latifolia The perennial flower ''Abronia latifolia'' or ''Abronia arenaria'' is a species of Abronia (plant), sand-verbena known commonly as the coastal, or yellow sand-verbena. It is native to the west coast of North America, from southern California to t ...

'', sometimes over 60 cm long, can be eaten as a

root vegetable Root vegetables are underground plant parts eaten by humans as food. Although botany distinguishes true roots (such as taproots and tuberous roots) from non-roots (such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and tubers, although some contain both hypocotyl a ...

. File:Nyctaginaceae Pink sand verbena abronia umbellata.jpg, Nyctaginaceae Pink sand verbena abronia umbellata File:Abronia ameliae 1.jpg, Abronia ameliae File:Sand verbena.jpg, Sand Verbena (Abronia villosa)

References

* Galloway, LA. 1976. Systematics of the North American desert species of ''Abronia'' and ''Tripterocalyx'' (Nyctaginaceae). ''Brittonia'' 27 (4): 328-347 (1975 publ. 1976)
Flora of North America: ''Abronia''

External links

Caryophyllales genera {{Caryophyllales-stub