Burke: Eriogonum microthecum vs. Eriogonum codium

	Eriogonum microthecum	Eriogonum codium
		basalt desert buckwheat, Umptanum buckwheat
Habit	Scraggly, woody perennial with a few, leafy stems to 4 dm. tall, and a much-branched inflorescence with tiny, terminal flower clusters.
Leaves	Leaves alternate, linear to oblong or narrowly obovate, 1-3 cm long, narrowed gradually to a short petiole, gray-woolly beneath and greenish but with some hairs above, crowded along the lower half of the stem.
Flowers	Inflorescence freely branching, open, flat-topped, 2-20 cm. long; involucres borne singly, 2-2.5 mm. long, with short, scarious-margined teeth; tepals top-shaped, 2-2.5 mm. long, white to pink or yellow, the rounded lobes somewhat longer than the tube, without a stipe at the base.
Fruits	Achene

	Eriogonum microthecum	Eriogonum codium
Identification notes	The scraggly, leafy stems that are woody for about the lower third are unique among the Eriogonums in our area.
Flowering time	June-August	May-August
Habitat	Sandy deserts to lower mountain slopes, chiefly with sagebrush.	Volcanic soils in sagebrush along the Columbia River.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in central Washington; central Washington to California, east to the Rocky Mountains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington, where endemic to Benton County. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Endangered in Washington (WANHP)
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. 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
Web links	Local floras: OR 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: 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

Eriogonum codium

basalt desert buckwheat, Umptanum buckwheat

Habit

Scraggly, woody perennial with a few, leafy stems to 4 dm. tall, and a much-branched inflorescence with tiny, terminal flower clusters.

Leaves

Leaves alternate, linear to oblong or narrowly obovate, 1-3 cm long, narrowed gradually to a short petiole, gray-woolly beneath and greenish but with some hairs above, crowded along the lower half of the stem.

Flowers

Inflorescence freely branching, open, flat-topped, 2-20 cm. long;

involucres borne singly, 2-2.5 mm. long, with short, scarious-margined teeth;

tepals top-shaped, 2-2.5 mm. long, white to pink or yellow, the rounded lobes somewhat longer than the tube, without a stipe at the base.

Fruits

Achene