Burke: Eriogonum douglasii vs. Eriogonum compositum

	Eriogonum douglasii	Eriogonum compositum
	Douglas's buckwheat	arrow-leaf buckwheat, northern buckwheat
Habit	Low, matted subshrubs 5 to 15 cm. in height.	Stout perennial from a woody taproot, the broad crown somewhat shrubby, the several stems and leaves forming a plant to 5 cm. high and broad.
Leaves	Numerous, linear to linear-spatulate, 5 to 20 mm. long, gray- or white-woolly on both surfaces, especially the lower.	Basal, lanceolate to deltoid, more or less cordate-based, white-woolly beneath and green above, on petioles as long to several times as long as the blade.
Flowers	Flowering stems 5-10 cm. long, with a whorl of bracts at mid-length, and generally a single, terminal cup-shaped involucre of 6-10 oblong, white-wooly lobes about 3 mm. long. Flower buds blood-red, opening to cream-colored or slightly pinkish or yellowish tepals, 6-8 mm. long with a stipe-like base 1-2 mm. long	Flowering stems stout and naked, the inflorescence a compound umbel 2-20 cm. broad, with linear bracts at the base of both primary and secondary umbels; involucres 6-10 mm. long, lobed about half their length, the lobes usually reflexed: tepals either creamy-white or lemon-yellow, about 5 mm. long, with a stipe-like base about 1 mm. long.

	Eriogonum douglasii	Eriogonum compositum
Identification notes	Separate from the similar Eriogonum thymoides by the involucre lobes; E. thymoides has erect lobes, E. douglasii, reflexed to spreading lobes.	The usually large, heart-shaped leaves that are green on top and woolly white beneath will usually identify this species.
Flowering time	May-July	May-July
Habitat	Sagebrush or juniper flats to ponderosa pine forests, often on lithosol.	Dry, open areas, rocky slopes and cliffs from low elevations nearly to the subalpine.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington, chiefly in the central region; Washington to California, east to Idaho and Nevada. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Washington to California, east to Idaho. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	E. baileyi, E. cernuum, E. codium, E. compositum, E. elatum, E. flavum, E. heracleoides, E. maculatum, E. marifolium, E. microtheca, E. niveum, E. nudum, E. ovalifolium, E. pyrolifolium, E. sphaerocephalum, E. strictum, E. thymoides, E. umbellatum, E. vimineum	E. baileyi, E. cernuum, E. codium, E. douglasii, E. elatum, E. flavum, E. heracleoides, E. maculatum, E. marifolium, E. microtheca, E. niveum, E. nudum, E. ovalifolium, E. pyrolifolium, E. sphaerocephalum, E. strictum, E. thymoides, E. umbellatum, E. vimineum
Subordinate taxa	E. douglasii var. douglasii	E. compositum var. compositum, E. compositum var. lancifolium, E. compositum var. leianthum
Web links	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Eriogonum compositum

Douglas's buckwheat

arrow-leaf buckwheat, northern buckwheat

Habit

Low, matted subshrubs 5 to 15 cm. in height.

Stout perennial from a woody taproot, the broad crown somewhat shrubby, the several stems and leaves forming a plant to 5 cm. high and broad.

Leaves

Numerous, linear to linear-spatulate, 5 to 20 mm. long, gray- or white-woolly on both surfaces, especially the lower.

Basal, lanceolate to deltoid, more or less cordate-based, white-woolly beneath and green above, on petioles as long to several times as long as the blade.

Flowers

Flowering stems 5-10 cm. long, with a whorl of bracts at mid-length, and generally a single, terminal cup-shaped involucre of 6-10 oblong, white-wooly lobes about 3 mm. long. Flower buds blood-red, opening to cream-colored or slightly pinkish or yellowish tepals, 6-8 mm. long with a stipe-like base 1-2 mm. long

Flowering stems stout and naked, the inflorescence a compound umbel 2-20 cm. broad, with linear bracts at the base of both primary and secondary umbels;

involucres 6-10 mm. long, lobed about half their length, the lobes usually reflexed: tepals either creamy-white or lemon-yellow, about 5 mm. long, with a stipe-like base about 1 mm. long.