Burke: Eriogonum thymoides vs. Eriogonum vimineum

	Eriogonum thymoides	Eriogonum vimineum
	thyme buckwheat, thyme-leaf wild buckwheat	broom buckwheat
Habit	Intricately branched, low and spreading to erect shrub 5-15 cm. tall, somewhat gray-woolly to silky throughout.	Upright annual 5-50 cm. tall with a single stem topped by a freely-branched inflorescence, and with numerous, petiolate leaves in a whorl a short distance above the base.
Leaves	Leaves many, linear to linear-spatulate, 3-10 mm. long, usually revolute, somewhat wooly beneath and silky above.	Sub-basal, the blade oval to broadly elliptic, 5-30 mm. long, gray-woolly beneath and gray-green above, the slender petiole 1-3 times as long as the blade.
Flowers	Flowering stems 3-8 cm. tall, always with a whorl of leaves about mid-length; involucres single and terminal, top-shaped, 3-5 mm. long, the teeth 6-8, erect, triangular, 1 mm. long; perianth with a stipitate base 0.5-1 mm. long, densely hairy, the 6 segments obovate, yellow or white to rose-red, 4-6 mm. long; plants dioecious, the staminate flowers with 9 stamens, the filaments hairs only at the base, the pistillate flowers with stout, spreading styles 0.5-1 mm. long.	Inflorescence freely-branched, with involucres 1 per node and sessile at the branch junctions and along the branches and on the branch tips, varying from cylindric and strongly ribbed up to 3 mm. long to cup-shaped and without ribs, 1.5-2 mm. long, and with the 5 lobes rounded and 1/5 the total length; tepals 1.5-2.5 mm. long, narrowly cup-shaped, white, pink or yellow.
Fruits	Achenes pubescent above	Achene 3-angled.

	Eriogonum thymoides	Eriogonum vimineum
Identification notes	Separate from the similar Eriogonum douglasii by the involucre lobes; E. thymoides has erect lobes, E. douglasii, reflexed to spreading lobes.
Flowering time	April-June	June-September
Habitat	Sagebrush deserts, dry ponderosa pine forest openings, and open ridges in lower mountains.	Sagebrush deserts and dry ponderosa pine forest openings; tolerant of dry, disturbed conditions.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in central Washington; central Washington to Oregon, east to Idaho. [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	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	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. 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. sphaerocephalum, E. strictum, E. thymoides, E. umbellatum
Web links	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	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 vimineum

thyme buckwheat, thyme-leaf wild buckwheat

broom buckwheat

Habit

Intricately branched, low and spreading to erect shrub 5-15 cm. tall, somewhat gray-woolly to silky throughout.

Upright annual 5-50 cm. tall with a single stem topped by a freely-branched inflorescence, and with numerous, petiolate leaves in a whorl a short distance above the base.

Leaves

Leaves many, linear to linear-spatulate, 3-10 mm. long, usually revolute, somewhat wooly beneath and silky above.

Sub-basal, the blade oval to broadly elliptic, 5-30 mm. long, gray-woolly beneath and gray-green above, the slender petiole 1-3 times as long as the blade.

Flowers

Flowering stems 3-8 cm. tall, always with a whorl of leaves about mid-length;

involucres single and terminal, top-shaped, 3-5 mm. long, the teeth 6-8, erect, triangular, 1 mm. long;

perianth with a stipitate base 0.5-1 mm. long, densely hairy, the 6 segments obovate, yellow or white to rose-red, 4-6 mm. long; plants dioecious, the staminate flowers with 9 stamens, the filaments hairs only at the base, the pistillate flowers with stout, spreading styles 0.5-1 mm. long.

Inflorescence freely-branched, with involucres 1 per node and sessile at the branch junctions and along the branches and on the branch tips, varying from cylindric and strongly ribbed up to 3 mm. long to cup-shaped and without ribs, 1.5-2 mm. long, and with the 5 lobes rounded and 1/5 the total length;

tepals 1.5-2.5 mm. long, narrowly cup-shaped, white, pink or yellow.

Fruits

Achenes pubescent above

Achene 3-angled.