''Petalonyx'' is a small genus of flowering plants native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. They are known commonly as sandpaper plants, and are most often found in warm, dry desert regions. Sandpaper plants are

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or undershrub is either a small shrub (e.g. prostrate shrubs) or a perennial that is largely herbaceous but slightly woody at the base (e.g. garden pink and florist's chrysanthemum). The term is often interch ...

s that get their common name from their rough foliage, which is covered in tiny, stiffly curved hairs. They bear

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

s of claw-shaped flowers with long

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s extending well beyond the corolla, and unusual in that they emerge from outside the corolla.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

/ref> Species: *'' Petalonyx linearis'' - narrowleaf sandpaper plant *'' Petalonyx nitidus'' - shinyleaf sandpaper plant *'' Petalonyx parryi'' - Parry's sandpaper plant *'' Petalonyx thurberi'' - Thurber's sandpaper plant *''Petalonyx crenatus''

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Petalonyx'' species in California
— ''images and info''.
Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Petalonyx''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q288297 Loasaceae Flora of Northwestern Mexico Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the California desert regions North American desert flora Taxa named by Asa Gray Cornales genera