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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Abronia latifolia
yellow sand-verbena

 
Scientific Name: Abronia latifolia Eschsch.
English Name: yellow sand-verbena
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vascular Plant
Species Code: ABROLAT
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Plantae Anthophyta Dicotyledoneae Caryophyllales Nyctaginaceae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (Jul 1988)
Provincial Status: S3 (Apr 2019)
BC List: Blue
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 3 - Sensitive (2010)
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Technical Description:
Similar Species:
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence) 		Other Unique Habitats / Beach / Obligate
Other Unique Habitats / Sand Dune / Facultative - frequent use
Global Habitat Comments: Sandy soils, coastal scrub, lees of dunes adjacent to strand (FNA vol. 4, 2003).
Provincial Habitat Comments: In British Columbia, Abronia latifolia is restricted to upper sand beaches, semi-stabilized dunes, and sand flats above the driftwood zone. These sites are scoured by winds, windblown sand, and high tides. Winter storms, salt spray, shifting sands, and summer drought combine to make sand dune habitats stressful and highly specialized habitats (Christy et al. 1998; Page 2003). Dune and beach sands are poor in nutrients and contain very little organic matter. Suitable beach and dune habitat is relatively uncommon in British Columbia and is widely scattered along the coast. Most occurrences are small and separated by extensive exposures of rocky or gravelly shorelines that do not support Abronia and other distinctive sand dune species such as Lupinus littoralis, Glehnia leiocarpa, Carex macrocephala, Calystegia soldanella, Lathyrus littoralis, Poa macrantha, and polygonum paronychia. Stabilization of sand initiates woody plant succession that eventually crowds out species typical of open dunes.
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Elevation (m) (min / max): Provincial: 
Known Pests:
Pollen Vector:
Pollinator:
Dispersal:
   
 
Provincial Inventory
Inventory Priority:
Ownership of occurrences (Known locations):
Inventory Need:
 
Economic Attributes
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Disjunct, more common elsewhere:
Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere:
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: Enns, A.
Last Updated: Dec 17, 2019
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
Last Literature Search:
   
References and Related Literature
Blancas, L. 2001b. Hybridization between rare and common plant relatives: implications for plant conservation genetics. Ph.D. Dissertation. Univ. of CA, Riverside. 97 pp.
Christy, J.A., J.S. Kagan & A.M. Wiedemann. 1998. Plant associations of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, Siuslaw National Forest, Oregon. Technical Paper R6-NR-ECOL-TP-09-98. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, Portland, Oregon. 183 pp.
Douglas, G.W. 2003b. Status Report on Pink Sand-verbena Abronia umbellata ssp. breviflora in Canada. Unpubl. Rep. submitted to the Comm. on the Status of Endangered Wildl. in Canada. Ottawa. 22pp.
Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Penny. 2002. Rare Native Vascular Plants of British Columbia, 2nd ed. B.C. Conserv. Data Centre, Terrestrial Inf. Branch, Victoria. 358pp.
Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Pojar. eds. 1999. Illustrated Flora of British Columbia, Vol. 3, Dicotyledons (Diapensiaceae through Onagraceae). B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, and B.C. Minist. For., Victoria. 423pp.
Fairbarns, M. 2004e. James Island Conservation Assessment. Prepared for The Nature Conservancy of Canada. Victoria, BC.
Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2003b. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 4, Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, part 1. Oxford University Press, New York. xxiv + 559 pp.
Hitchcock, C. L., A. Cronquist, M. Ownbey, and J. W. Thompson. 1955, 1959, 1961, 1964 and 1969. 7th printing 1994. Vascular plants of the Pacific Northwest. Parts 1-5. Univ. Wash. Press, Seattle.
Page, N.A. 2003. Community and regional scale patterns of native and exotic plant species in sand beaches of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Unpublished master of science thesis in the Institute of Resources, Environment, and Sustainability, University of British Columbia. 79 pp.
Page, N.A. 2004. Applied recovery research to assist sand-verbena moth and yellow sand-verbena populations. Unpublished report. Raincoast Applied Ecology, Vancouver, BC. 27 pp. + appendices.
Pickart, A.J. and J.O. Sawyer. 1998. Ecology and restoration of northern Califronia coastal dunes. CA Native Plant Soc., Sacramento, CA. 152 pp.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2019. Species Summary: Abronia latifolia. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Nov 26, 2024).