Eriogonum umbellatum
Encyclopedia
Eriogonum umbellatum is a species of wild buckwheat
known by the common name sulphurflower buckwheat, or simply sulphur flower. It is native to western North America from California
to Colorado
to central Canada, where it is abundant and found in many habitats. This is an extremely variable plant and hard to identify because individuals can look very different from one another. Also, there are a great many varieties. It may be a perennial herb forming a small clump with flowers to 10 centimeters tall, or a sprawling shrub
approaching two meters high and wide. The leaves are usually woolly and low on the plant, and the flowers come in many colors from white to bright yellow to purple. Native American groups utilized parts of this plant for a number of medicinal uses.
Varieties of this species include, but are not limited to:
Eriogonum
Eriogonum is the scientific name for a genus of flowering plants, in the family Polygonaceae. The genus is found in North America and is known as wild buckwheat. This is a highly species-rich genus, and indications are that active speciation is continuing...
known by the common name sulphurflower buckwheat, or simply sulphur flower. It is native to western North America from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
to central Canada, where it is abundant and found in many habitats. This is an extremely variable plant and hard to identify because individuals can look very different from one another. Also, there are a great many varieties. It may be a perennial herb forming a small clump with flowers to 10 centimeters tall, or a sprawling shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
approaching two meters high and wide. The leaves are usually woolly and low on the plant, and the flowers come in many colors from white to bright yellow to purple. Native American groups utilized parts of this plant for a number of medicinal uses.
Varieties of this species include, but are not limited to:
- E. u. var. argus - often nearly hairless leaves and bright yellow flowers; limited to the Klamath MountainsKlamath MountainsThe Klamath Mountains, which include the Siskiyou, Marble, Scott, Trinity, Trinity Alps, Salmon, and northern Yolla-Bolly Mountains, are a rugged lightly populated mountain range in northwest California and southwest Oregon in the United States...
- E. u. var. dichrocephalum - found throughout much of the western United States
- E. u. var. furcosum - a low shrub native to the Sierra Nevada
- E. u. var. glaberrimum - (green buckwheat) - a nearly hairless, white-flowered species
- E. u. var. humistratum - (Mt. Eddy buckwheat) - a rare northern California endemic
- E. u. var. juniporinum - (juniper buckwheat) - an uncommon plant of eastern California and western Nevada
- E. u. var. subalpinum - (sulfur buckwheat) - similar to Eriogonum eriogonum but has wider and more spoon-shaped leaves
- E. u. var. torreyanum - (Donner Pass buckwheat) - known from fewer than 10 occurrences near the Donner PassDonner PassDonner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, located above Donner Lake about nine miles west of Truckee, California. It has a steep approach from the east and a gradual approach from the west....
- E. u. var. versicolor - bears pinkish-brown flowers with bright stripes