yellow sand verbena
Abronia latifolia
Nyctaginaceae

This is a cheery little sand dune plant. It's a welcome sight in an area overrun by the hottentot fig, an iceplant. As I was looking this up, I was surprised to find it's in the same family as the bougainvillea. I read somewhere this is the only yellow colored sand verbena; based on a search of Calflora, this looks like it might be true as the others range in color from white to pink to purple.

ps 11/04/10 - Could someone do me a favor and click on the embedded link above to Calflora? I'd like to know whether what I see as a registered user is what the public can access. Thanks!

yellow sand verbena ~ 09/28/10 ~ Asilomar Beach

yellow sand verbena
Abronia latifolia
Nyctaginaceae

posted 11/04/10 - I've included different links in the common and scientific names than the October 30, 2010 Fort Ord Dunes State Park posting of the yellow sand verbena.

ps 01/23/11 - For more dune plants and information at Asilomar, check out Town Mouse and Country Mouse posts 1 & 2.

bougainvillea
Bougainvillea spectabilis
Nyctaginaceae

This is a very popular plant for all the hotels in the area. It's very showy. It's native to South America, which surprised me because many of the favorite garden plants around here come from South Africa.