Eriogonum corymbosum |
Eriogonum inflatum |
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corymbed wild buckwheat, crispleaf buckwheat, crispleaf wild buckwheat, white wild buckwheat |
bottle stopper, desert trumpet, Indian pipeweed |
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Habit | Shrubs or subshrubs, spreading, rounded, occasionally erect, rarely somewhat matted, not scapose, (0.5–)1.5–8(–15) × (2–)3–15(–23) dm, grayish- to reddish-brown-tomentose to floccose or glabrous, grayish or greenish. | Herbs, erect, perennial, occasionally flowering first year, 1–10(–15) dm, glabrous, usually glaucous, grayish. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | spreading or erect, often with persistent leaf bases, up to 3/4 or more height of plant; caudex stems absent or somewhat matted; aerial flowering stems erect or nearly so, slender or occasionally stout, solid, not fistulose, (0.1–)1–2 dm, tomentose to floccose, occasionally glabrous. |
caudex compact; aerial flowering stems erect, solid or hollow and fistulose, (0.2–)2–5 dm, glabrous, usually glaucous, occasionally hirsute proximally. |
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Leaves | cauline, 1 per node; petiole 0.1–1.5 cm, tomentose to floccose; blade lanceolate to oblanceolate or elliptic to nearly orbiculate, rarely cordate, (0.5–)1–3(–4.5) × (0.3–)0.5–3(–3.5) cm, densely white-, tannish- or brownish-tomentose on both surfaces or less so to nearly glabrous and green adaxially, margins occasionally crenulate. |
basal; petiole 2–6 cm, hirsute; blade oblong-ovate to oblong or rounded to reniform, (0.5–)1–2.5(–3) × (0.5–)1–2(–2.5) cm, short-hirsute and grayish or greenish on both surfaces, sometimes less so or glabrous and green adaxially, margins occasionally undulate. |
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Inflorescences | cymose, rarely capitate or umbellate, diffuse to rather open, (1–)3–20 × 2–25(–30) cm; branches dichotomous, tomentose, floccose, or rarely glabrous; bracts 3, scalelike, usually triangular, and 1–3(–6) mm, or leaflike, 10–25 mm, and similar to leaf blades. |
cymose, open, spreading to erect, 5–70 × 5–50 cm; branches occasionally fistulose, glabrous, usually glaucous; bracts 3, scalelike, 1–2.5(–5) × 1–2.5 mm. |
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Peduncles | absent. |
erect, straight, filiform to capillary, 0.5–2(–3.5) cm, glabrous. |
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Involucres | 1 per node, turbinate, (1–)1.5–3.5 × 1–2(–2.5) mm; teeth 5, erect, 0.3–1 mm. |
turbinate, 1–1.5 × 1–1.8 mm, glabrous; teeth 5, erect, 0.4–0.6 mm. |
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Flowers | (1.5–)2–3.5 mm; perianth white to cream, pink, or pale yellow to yellow, glabrous or rarely sparsely pilose; tepals connate proximal 1/4–1/3, essentially monomorphic, oblanceolate to spatulate; stamens included to slightly exserted, 1–4(–5) mm; filaments typically pilose proximally. |
(1–)2–3(–4) mm; perianth yellow with greenish or reddish midribs, densely hirsute with coarse curved hairs; tepals monomorphic, narrowly ovoid to ovate; stamens exserted, 1.3–2.5 mm; filaments glabrous or sparsely pubescent proximally. |
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Achenes | brown, 2–2.5(–3) mm, glabrous except for occasional papillate beak. |
light brown to brown, lenticular to 3-gonous, 2–2.5 mm, glabrous. |
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2n | = 32. |
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Eriogonum corymbosum |
Eriogonum inflatum |
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Phenology | Flowering year-round. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Sandy to gravelly washes, flats, and slopes, mixed grassland, saltbush, creosote bush, mesquite, and sagebrush communities, pinyon and/or juniper woodlands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | -30-1800(-2000) m (-100-5900(-6600) ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; NV; TX; UT; WY
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AZ; CA; CO; NM; NV; UT; Mexico (Baja California, Sonora)
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Discussion | Varieties 8 (8 in the flora). Eriogonum corymbosum is a difficult complex of overlapping expressions, some of which are maintained here as taxonomically significant. Although perianth color is used to group the varieties, this feature is not consistent even in single populations. Therefore, population trends in perianth color must be noted in the field. Most of the varieties are then distinguished on the basis of leaf characters, and again, considerable variation can be seen in some populations. Still, the combination of flower color, leaf features, and geographic distribution should prove useful in distinguishing the varieties. S. L. Welsh et al. (2003) alluded to hybrid combinations involving Eriogonum corymbosum and other species. Aside from the instances involving E. brevicaule, discussed below, none has been confirmed. Most of the putative hybrids are misidentified specimens of E. lonchophyllum or collections of var. corymbosum in which the leaf-margins are not decidedly crisped, a feature usually seen only in fully mature plants. Eriogonum corymbosum was widely used by Native Americans. P. A. Vestal (1940) reported that the Hopi pressed boiled stalks into cakes that, when dried, were eaten with salt. J. W. Fewkes (1896) indicated that boiled leaves were mixed with cornmeal and water, and then baked into a kind of bread. S. A. Weber and P. D. Seaman (1985) indicated that A. F. Whiting was aware of a decoction of leaves (probably from var. glutinosum) being used for headaches. Variety glutinosum also was used primarily to treat tuberculosis, or at least as a cough medicine (D. E. Moerman 1986). Some of the expressions of Eriogonum corymbosum are attracting the interest of gardeners, a few are coming into cultivation, and several selections are now being developed. The plants are slow growing but can be transplanted with some degree of success. Members of the varieties are food plants for Ellis’s dotted-blue butterfly (Euphilotes ellisi). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The cause of the fistulose stem and inflorescence branches in Eriogonum inflatum was imaginatively attributed by A. M. Stone and C. T. Mason (1979) to the larvae of gall insects. This fallacy continues to appear in the literature. Greenhouse studies have shown that stems of this and some other species of the genus inflate without the presence of any insects. Other researchers have shown that the inflation involves a build-up of CO2 within the stems, which take over as the primary photosynthetic body as leaves wilt or eventually dry up and fall away from the plant (C. D. Osmond et al. 1987). Not all individuals of E. inflatum will have fistulose stems and branches, as this feature is partly a function of available moisture: the drier the conditions, the less pronounced the inflation. Stems produced in the summer tend to be inflated less frequently than those produced in the spring. The “annual” phase of Eriogonum inflatum is distinct from its truly annual relatives. Its flowering stems and inflorescence branches are distinctly grayish, whereas those of the true annuals are green or yellowish green. As circumscribed here, Eriogonum inflatum occurs in Arizona, southern and east-central California, western Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, central and southern Nevada, and southern and eastern Utah. Some Native Americans occasionally ate newly emerged stems of Eriogonum inflatum (S. A. Weber and P. D. Seaman 1985; M. L. Zigmond 1981). The hollow stems were used as drinking tubes (Weber and Seaman) and pipes (E. W. Gifford 1936). This wild buckwheat is a food plant for the desert metalmark butterfly (Apodemia mormo deserti). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 255. | FNA vol. 5, p. 386. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Eriogonum > subg. Eucycla | Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Eriogonum > subg. Ganysma | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | E. effusum subsp. corymbosum | E. glaucum, E. inflatum var. deflatum, E. trichopes subsp. glaucum | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Bentham: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 14: 17. (1856) | Torrey & Frémont: in J. C. Frémont, Rep. Exped. Rocky Mts., 317. (1845) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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