Lilac Sand-Verbena. Wild Lantana
Abronia villosa, Wats. Four-o’clock Family.
Plants with more or less glandular-villous pubescence. Stems.—Prostrate. Leaves.—Rarely an inch long. Peduncles.—One to three inches long; five- to fifteen-flowered. Involucral bracts.—Lanceolate; three or four lines long. Perianth.—Lilac; four or five lines across; with obcordate lobes. (Otherwise as A. latifotia.) Hab.—San Diego and eastward; also in southern deserts.
The charming flowers of the lilac sand-verbena are not found upon the immediate sea-beach, but always a little withdrawn from it, where the soil is more firmly established, yet within sight and sound of the waves. The blossoms have a delicate beauty, not shared by our other species of Abronia, and somewhat resemble our garden verbenas. They are sometimes called “wild lantana.”
A. umbellata, Lam., is common all up and down our coast, often making masses of deep pink on the beach; while A. maritima, Nutt., is found from Santa Barbara to San Diego. The latter is a very stout, coarse, viscid plant, with small, very deep magenta flowers.