Palmer's Sea-heath
Frankenia palmeri
In bloom at the beginning of March along the coast at Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico. 2012.
RANGE: This low growing shrub is found on sandy dunes along the Gulf of
California in Sonora, Mexico. Coastal San Diego County, California, and on the
Baja Peninsula.
LEAVES: Small club-shapped leaves are dark green and succulent.
FLOWERS: Five white, sometime with traces of red, petals; In the
literature the stamens are said to be pink, but the specimen here clearly has
yellow stamens.
SEEDS: One seed developes per flower within a dry capsule.
SHRUB: Intricately branched shrub mostly less than one meter tall.
UNARMED. No thorns or spines.