Burke: Eriogonum gordonii vs. Eriogonum sphaerocephalum

	Eriogonum gordonii	Eriogonum sphaerocephalum
		rock buckwheat, round-headed eriogonum
Habit		Spreading to erect sub-shrub, freely branched, forming a dense, rounded clump to 4 dm. tall.
Leaves		Numerous in whorls at the branch tips, broadly linear, 1-3 cm. long by 3-6 mm. wide, somewhat grayish-woolly on the underside and less so on the top
Flowers		Flowering stems 5-10 cm. tall, terminating in an umbel of two or more pedicels, which are subtended by several leafy bracts; the involucres are cup-shaped, with 6-10 oblong lobes about 3 mm. long, about equaling the tube, reflexed to spreading; the tepals are usually yellow, but occasionally white or pinkish, 6-8 mm. long with a stipe-like base, and forming a ball-like flower cluster.

	Eriogonum gordonii	Eriogonum sphaerocephalum
Identification notes		The dense, rounded clump of fine branches covered with bright yellow spheres of flowers should identify this species.
Flowering time		May-July
Habitat		Sagebrush or juniper flats to ponderosa pine forests at low elevations.
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Washington to California, east to Idaho and Nevada. [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. pyrolifolium, E. strictum, E. thymoides, E. umbellatum, E. vimineum
Subordinate taxa		E. sphaerocephalum var. halimioides, E. sphaerocephalum var. sphaerocephalum, E. sphaerocephalum var. sublineare
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: 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 sphaerocephalum

rock buckwheat, round-headed eriogonum

Habit

Spreading to erect sub-shrub, freely branched, forming a dense, rounded clump to 4 dm. tall.

Leaves

Numerous in whorls at the branch tips, broadly linear, 1-3 cm. long by 3-6 mm. wide, somewhat grayish-woolly on the underside and less so on the top

Flowers

Flowering stems 5-10 cm. tall, terminating in an umbel of two or more pedicels, which are subtended by several leafy bracts; the involucres are cup-shaped, with 6-10 oblong lobes about 3 mm. long, about equaling the tube, reflexed to spreading; the tepals are usually yellow, but occasionally white or pinkish, 6-8 mm. long with a stipe-like base, and forming a ball-like flower cluster.