Abronia alpina

Abronia alpina
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)
Imperiled  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Nyctaginaceae
Genus:	Abronia
Species:	A. alpina
Binomial name
Abronia alpina Brandegee

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.

Description

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.

Further reading

• Jabis, Meredith D.; Ayers, Tina J.; Allan, Gerard J. (Oct 2011). "Pollinator-Mediated Gene Flow Fosters Genetic Variability in a Narrow Alpine Endemic, Abronia Alpina (Nyctaginaceae)". American Journal of Botany. 98 (10): 1583–1594. doi:10.3732/ajb.1000515. PMID 21980161.
• Jabis, Meredith D.; Ayers, Tina J. (August 2014). "Habitat Suitability as a Limiting Factor for Establishment in a Narrow Endemic: Abronia alpina (Nyctaginaceae)". Western North American Naturalist. 74 (2): 185–200. doi:10.3398/064.074.0204. S2CID 59482662.

External links

• Jepson Manual Treatment for Abronia alpina
• USDA Plants Profile for Abronia alpina
• U.S.FWS Species Account
• UC CalPhotos gallery of Abronia alpina