THE MEXICAN SAND VERBENA

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22335, 24 February 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE MEXICAN SAND VERBENA

(By Winifred Chapman)

Last summer my attention was drawn to a beautiful and interesting little plant known as the Abronia or Mexican sand verbena. is an inhabitant of the Mexican desert, and has all the habits of a desert plant, for it revels in sand and heat. It is called verbena, because the small umbels or delicate mauvepink flowers (not unlike the flowers of heliotrope) closely resemble the larger ones of the familiar garden verbena. The plant is quite prostrate, the stems trailing on the ground, and when thriving, is literally covered with the dainty flowers. During the day one scarcely notices any perfume, but at night it has a very sweet scent. The stems .of the plant are coloured mauve-pink, and the small leaves are slightly fleshy. This year I have grown it from seed myself, and was greatly intrigued by its behaviour. Treated as most seeds, there was no sign of germination for some weeks. The seeds were then dug up to see what had happened. They were still there, just the same as when put in. The seeds are quite large, and evidently the skin is tough. The pot was then well soaked in water and put in a warm place; after a couple of days the seedlings began to appear. I have been told that in favourable conditions it will germinate in a day, which is more than likely considering the climate of its native home. ( The seeds would need to be. resistant until conditions were suitable for the survival of the young plants, when they would mature rapidly. Unlike most familiar plants the abronia only makes one first seedleaf, which, when it first appears, looks rather like a parsnip seed lying flat on the soil. After a few days it is lifted upland when the stem is about lin high the' second leaf appears below. It then grows fairly rapidly, and soon makes a little plant large enough to be handled, not unlike a young gaillardia. The first seed-leaf does not seem to be essential to the life and . growth of the plant, as in more than one case slaters disposed of it; but the tiny plants did not suffer, and they continued to grow. There is very little root, and it does not seem to spread at all. The stems, when lying on the ground, do hot form feelers or roots at the nodules as might be expected. When established it' begins to bloom in spring and continues until late autumn when the frosts check, but do not destroy it if it is growing in a favourable warm and sheltered spot. It likes best to be grown in a bed .well supplied with sand, alongside a gravel path, on to which it is certain to spread. It makes quantities of seed very large in proportion to the size of the flowers, so that a supply of self-seeded plants is practically obtain. „ . When in bloom it is really a most dainty sight, and although of such lowly stature the stems of the flower clusters are sufficiently long to enable them to be used for table decoration. They look quite exquisite in a shallow cut-glass bowl. an*d have the admirable virtue of lasting, keeping bright and fresh for several days. /

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