Green Buckwheat
(Eriogonum umbellatum var. glaberrimum )
Polygonaceae

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Description:

Perennial forbs forming compact mats, 4-9 ⅞” (10-25 cm) tall × 12- 31 ½ “(30-80 cm) across. Aerial flowering stems (inflorescences) erect, 4 - 8” (10-20 cm), glabrous, without one or more leaflike bracts ca. midlength. Leaves in loose rosettes; blade narrowly elliptic to elliptic, 1 ⅛ - ¾ inches (1-2 cm) long and ⅛ - 1 ⅛ inches (0.3-1 cm) wide, glabrous and green on both surfaces, margins plane. Inflorescences umbellate; branches 1 ⅛ - 3 inches (3-8 cm), glabrous, with a whorl of bracts at midlength; involucral tubes ⅛ - 3/16 inches (4-5 mm), lobes 1/16 - ⅛ inch (1-3.5(-4) mm) long. Flowers ⅛ - ¼ inches (4-7 mm), cream or whitish.

Distribution:

Warner Mountains, Modoc County, CA to Lake Co, OR.

Habitat:

Sandy to gravelly slopes in sagebrush, aspen, & eastside pine communities and montane coniferous forests.  5,250 – 7,500 feet (1,600-2,300 m).

Flowering Period: July-September

Similar Plants:

What contrasts this from other varieties of E. umbellatum is the whorl of bracts at the mid-length of the inflorescence, the cream or whitish flowers, compound-umbellate inflorescence, and the restricted range of the variety.

Status: BLM Sensitive, California Native Plant Society List 1B.3