[Illustration: Abronia villosa]
Common name: SANDVERBENA
Arizona and California deserts: (_Abronia villosa_). Pink-purple.
March-April.
Texas desert: (_Abronia angustifolia_). Pink-purple. March-July.
Four-o’clock family. Size: Trailing annual, stems sometimes 2 feet in
length.
Sandverbenas are attractive, low-growing herbs with pink-purple to
lavender, fragrant flowers forming clusters or heads which cover the
plants. Desert species are conspicuous in the springtime when they line
roadsides and carpet open, sandy locations, such as dry streambeds, with
a mass of purple. Although they are often found in solid patches, they
frequently intermingle with other spring flowers such as the Bladderpod
producing a gay pattern of color.
Other species are found at higher elevations and are common during the
summer months.
Some of the desert species blossom a second time in September.
[Illustration: plant silhouette]