Burke: Eriogonum flavum vs. Eriogonum douglasii

	Eriogonum flavum	Eriogonum douglasii
	yellow buckwheat	Douglas's buckwheat
Habit	Tufted perennial with several woody branches coming from a stout taproot and covered with dead leaves, and several simple stems to 2 dm. tall top with a compact, multi-rayed umbel and ball-shaped flower clusters.	Low, matted subshrubs 5 to 15 cm. in height.
Leaves	Basal, closely crowded, usually more or less gray-woolly, especially below, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, 3-7 cm. long with a petiole about the same length.	Numerous, linear to linear-spatulate, 5 to 20 mm. long, gray- or white-woolly on both surfaces, especially the lower.
Flowers	Flowering stems leafless, 5-20 cm. long; inflorescence a simple umbel, rays up to 3 cm. long, subtended by 4-6 somewhat leafy bracts; involucre covered with soft hairs, cone-shaped, 4-7 mm. long with 4-5 shallow lobes; tepals 4-6 mm. long, usually pale to deep yellow but sometimes rose-tinged, covered with soft, silky hairs, and with a short, stipitate base.	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

	Eriogonum flavum	Eriogonum douglasii
Identification notes		Separate from the similar Eriogonum thymoides by the involucre lobes; E. thymoides has erect lobes, E. douglasii, reflexed to spreading lobes.
Flowering time	June-August	May-July
Habitat	Open knolls in grasslands to alpine ridges and scree.	Sagebrush or juniper flats to ponderosa pine forests, often on lithosol.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in southeastern Washington; Alaska to northeastern Oregon, east to the northern Great Plains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	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]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	E. baileyi, E. cernuum, E. codium, E. compositum, E. douglasii, E. elatum, 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. 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
Subordinate taxa	E. flavum var. piperi	E. douglasii var. douglasii
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	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

Eriogonum douglasii

yellow buckwheat

Douglas's buckwheat

Habit

Tufted perennial with several woody branches coming from a stout taproot and covered with dead leaves, and several simple stems to 2 dm. tall top with a compact, multi-rayed umbel and ball-shaped flower clusters.

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

Leaves

Basal, closely crowded, usually more or less gray-woolly, especially below, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, 3-7 cm. long with a petiole about the same length.

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

Flowers

Flowering stems leafless, 5-20 cm. long; inflorescence a simple umbel, rays up to 3 cm. long, subtended by 4-6 somewhat leafy bracts;

involucre covered with soft hairs, cone-shaped, 4-7 mm. long with 4-5 shallow lobes;

tepals 4-6 mm. long, usually pale to deep yellow but sometimes rose-tinged, covered with soft, silky hairs, and with a short, stipitate base.

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