Petalonyx thurberi

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

Secure  (NatureServe)
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
  1. Petalonyx thurberi. USDA PLANTS.
  2. Petalonyx thurberi. NatureServe. 2012.
  3. 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:
  4. P. thurberi ssp. gilmanii. The Jepson Manual.


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