''Achyronychia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plant containing the single species ''Achyronychia cooperi'', which is known by the common names onyxflower and frost-mat. This plant is native to the
Mojave and
Sonoran Deserts of northern
Mexico and the
U.S. states of
California,
Nevada,
Utah and
Arizona. In California, it is known from
San Diego,
Imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* Imperial, Texa ...
,
Riverside
Riverside may refer to:
Places Australia
* Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania
Canada
* Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon
* Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta
* Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...
,
Los Angeles,
San Bernardino and
Inyo Counties. In Arizona, it occurs in
Yuma,
Mohave,
Pima
Pima or PIMA may refer to:
People
* Pima people, the Akimel O'odham, Indigenous peoples in Arizona (U.S.) and Sonora (Mexico)
Places
* Pima, Arizona, a town in Graham County
* Pima County, Arizona
* Pima Canyon, in the Santa Catalina Mountains ...
,
Pinal and
Maricopa Counties. It has also been reported from
Washington County in Utah, and from
Clark County, Nevada.
Onyxflower is a diminutive plant which lies in a small mat flat on the ground. Its habitat is sand. It radiates several prostrate stems in all directions, each only a few centimeters long. The thick pale green leaves are paddle-shaped and under 2 centimeters long. In the leaf
axils
A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...
grow dense bunches of tiny flowers. There are no petals, but each flower has five thin shiny white
sepals that look like tiny
fingernails; the genus name ''Achyronychia'' is
Greek for "chaff fingernail".
Torrey, John, & Asa Gray. 1868. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 7(2): 331.
/ref>
References
External links
Berkeley.edu - Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA.gov - Plants ProfileBerkeley.edu - photo gallery
Caryophyllaceae
Monotypic Caryophyllaceae genera
North American desert flora
Flora of Arizona
Flora of Utah
Flora of Nevada
Flora of California
Flora of Sonora
Flora of Baja California
Flora without expected TNC conservation status
{{Caryophyllaceae-stub