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Abronia fragrans
Also called Sweet Sand Verbena, Fragrant White Sand Verbena, Prairie Snowball, Fragrant Sand Verbena, Heart's Delight
Abronia fragrans is a low, sprawling or upright perennial of the four o'clock family, grown for its fragrant white blooms that open in the evening. The key to growing it is full sun and loose, sandy, well-drained soil, since it comes from dry prairies and plains.
Abronia fragrans, the sweet sand-verbena, snowball sand-verbena, prairie snowball or fragrant verbena, is a species of sand verbena.
Sweet sand-verbena is grown in gardens for its attractive blossoms and fragrance, and to attract butterflies. In garden settings it is not as exacting of soil requirements as it is in the wild.
The native range of sweet sand-verbena extends from Northern Arizona to western Texas and Oklahoma north through the Rocky Mountain and western plains regions of the United States and south to Chihuahua, Mexico. Sweet sand-verbena occurs in prairies, plains, and savannas where it can be found growing in loose, dry, sandy soils.
The Indigenous peoples of the Southwest use the plant as a wash for sores and insect bites, to treat stomachache, and as an appetite booster. Among the Navajo, it is used medicinally for boils and taken internally when a spider was swallowed. The Kayenta Navajo use it as a cathartic, for insect bites, as a sudorific, as an emetic, for stomach cramps, and as a general panacea. The Ramah Navajo use it as a lotion for sores or sore mouth and to bathe perspiring feet.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Abronia fragrans by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
