A field of purple desert verbena flowering in the sandy desert, against the mountains during Spring Superbloom in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park in Borrego Springs, California. Abronia villosa is a species of sand-verbena known by the common names desert sand-verbena and chaparral sand-verbena. It is in the four o'clock plant family. It is native to sandy areas in the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, associated with creosote-bush and coastal-sage scrub habitats.HTBphotos by John and Katharina Notarianni for websites print news and other media.