4.
Abronia elliptica
A. Nelson, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club. 26: 7. 1899.
Abronia fragrans
Nuttall ex Hooker var.
elliptica
(A. Nelson) M. E. Jones;
A. nana
S. Watson var.
harrisii
S. L. Welsh
Plants
perennial, sometimes nearly acaulescent.
Stems
decumbent to erect, elongate, glandular-pubescent, infrequently glabrous.
Leaves:
petiole 1-4 cm; blade ovate elliptic-oblong to ovate, 1.5-6 × 0.5-3.5 cm, margins entire to sinuate, often undulate, adaxial surface glabrous or puberulent, abaxial surface thinly puberulent to pubescent.
Inflorescences:
peduncle longer than subtending petiole; bracts ovate to obovate, 5-20 × 3-10 mm, scarious, apex obtuse to acute, glandular-pubescent to villous; flowers 25-75.
Perianth:
tube rose to greenish, 10-20 mm, limb white, 5-8 mm diam.
Fruits
broadly turbinate, apex truncate or rounded and slightly beaked, or fruit ± rhombic in profile, 5-12 × 4-8.5 mm, scarious, tapered at both ends; wings (2-)5 (often 2 on periphery of inflorescence and folded together), dilated distally and flattened perpendicular to plane of lamina, dilations longer than wide, thin walled, cavities extending throughout.
Flowering spring-fall. Sandy or gravelly soils, desert grasslands, scrub; 700-2500 m; Ariz., Colo., Nev., N.Mex., Utah, Wyo.
