''Abronia alpina'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the
four o'clock family
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 ...
known by the common names Ramshaw Meadows sand verbena and Ramshaw Meadows abronia. It 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
Tulare County, California
Tulare County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 473,117. The county seat is Visalia, California, Visalia. The county is named for ...
, where it is known from only one area high in the
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
.
Description
This is a small, squat perennial herb which forms a flat to mounded mat on the floor of
alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
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.
Further reading
*
*
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment for ''Abronia alpina''USDA Plants Profile for ''Abronia alpina''UC CalPhotos gallery of ''Abronia alpina''
alpina
Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH & Co. KG is an automobile manufacturing company based in Buchloe, in the Ostallgäu district of Bavaria, Germany that develops and sells high-performance versions of BMW cars.
Alpina works closely with BMW and ...
Endemic flora of California
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Natural history of Tulare County, California
Taxa named by Townshend Stith Brandegee
Plants described in 1899
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