Burke: Eriogonum gordonii vs. Eriogonum pyrolifolium

	Eriogonum gordonii	Eriogonum pyrolifolium
		alpine buckwheat, oarleaf buckwheat, Shasta wild buckwheat
Habit		Sub-alpine perennial with a woody base covered with dead leaves, with several leafless stems to 15 cm. tall.
Leaves		Basal and numerous, the blades elliptic to rhombic to ovate, yellowish-green, grayish on the under side, 1.5-4 cm. long by up to 2 cm. broad, on petioles about the same length.
Flowers		Inflorescence subtended by two narrow bracts 10-20 mm. long; involucres usually 3, narrowly cup shaped, 4-6 mm. long with a short stipe and broad, erect teeth 1 mm. long; tepals white or greenish-white to pink or red, 4-5 mm. long, narrowly cup shaped; anthers purple.

	Eriogonum gordonii	Eriogonum pyrolifolium
Identification notes		Two (no more, no less) long, narrow bracts just below the inflorescence are found only on this species.
Flowering time		July-September
Habitat		Open, often rocky areas, from middle elevations to the alpine in the mountains.
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Idaho and Montana. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin		Native
Conservation status		Not of concern
Sibling taxa	E. baileyi, E. cernuum, E. codium, E. compositum, 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	E. baileyi, E. cernuum, E. codium, E. compositum, E. douglasii, E. elatum, E. flavum, E. heracleoides, E. maculatum, E. marifolium, E. microtheca, E. niveum, E. nudum, E. ovalifolium, E. sphaerocephalum, E. strictum, E. thymoides, E. umbellatum, E. vimineum
Web links	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: BC, 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 gordonii

Eriogonum pyrolifolium

alpine buckwheat, oarleaf buckwheat, Shasta wild buckwheat

Habit

Sub-alpine perennial with a woody base covered with dead leaves, with several leafless stems to 15 cm. tall.

Leaves

Basal and numerous, the blades elliptic to rhombic to ovate, yellowish-green, grayish on the under side, 1.5-4 cm. long by up to 2 cm. broad, on petioles about the same length.

Flowers

Inflorescence subtended by two narrow bracts 10-20 mm. long;

involucres usually 3, narrowly cup shaped, 4-6 mm. long with a short stipe and broad, erect teeth 1 mm. long;

tepals white or greenish-white to pink or red, 4-5 mm. long, narrowly cup shaped;

anthers purple.