Petalonyx thurberi is a species of flowering plant in the family Loasaceae known by the common names Thurber's sandpaper plant[1] and common sandpaper plant.[2] It is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, where it grows in sandy and scrubby habitat. It is a rounded or spreading, clumpy subshrub made up of many rough-haired stems approaching one meter in maximum height. The stems are lined with clasping leaves varying in shape from lance-shaped to triangular to oval and sometimes toothed. The inflorescence at the end of the stem is a small, crowded raceme of several flowers. The white flower appears tubular, its petals fused near the spreading tips but open lower, the stamens emerging from outside the corolla.[3]
| Petalonyx thurberi | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Cornales |
| Family: | Loasaceae |
| Genus: | Petalonyx |
| Species: | P. thurberi
|
| Binomial name | |
| Petalonyx thurberi | |
There are two subspecies, with the rarer, ssp. gilmanii (Death Valley sandpaper plant), limited to the deserts in and around Death Valley.[4]
References edit
- ^ Petalonyx thurberi. USDA PLANTS.
- ^ Petalonyx thurberi. NatureServe. 2012.
- ^ A REVISION OF PETALONYX (LOASACEAE) WITH A CONSIDERATION OF AFFINITIES IN SUBFAMILY GRONOVIOIDEAEWilliam S. Davis and Henry J. ThompsonMadroñoVol. 19, No. 1 (JANUARY, 1967), pp. 1-18Published by: California Botanical SocietyStable URL: [1]
- ^ P. thurberi ssp. gilmanii. The Jepson Manual.
External links edit
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