Eriogonum corymbosum |
Eriogonum leptophyllum |
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corymbed wild buckwheat, crispleaf buckwheat, crispleaf wild buckwheat, white wild buckwheat |
slender-leaf wild buckwheat, slenderleaf buckwheat |
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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. | Shrubs or subshrubs, rounded to spreading, not scapose, (0.5–)2–8(–13) × (1–)3–15(–18) dm, thinly pubescent or glabrous and green, yellowish green or infrequently grayish, occasionally papillate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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. |
spreading, without persistent leaf bases, up to 1/3 height of plant; caudex stems absent or compact; aerial flowering stems spreading, slender, solid, not fistulose, (0.05–)0.1–0.8 dm, thinly pubescent or glabrous. |
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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. |
cauline, 1 per node or fasciculate; petiole 0.05–0.1 cm, tomentose to floccose or glabrous; blade linear to linear-oblanceolate, (0.5–)2–6 × (0.03–)0.1–0.3 cm, densely to thinly white-tomentose abaxially, thinly so or glabrous and green adaxially, margins tightly revolute. |
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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, usually compact, (0.1–)2–12(–15) × (1–)4–15(–30) cm; branches dichotomous, thinly pubescent or glabrous; bracts 3, scalelike, triangular, (0.5–)1–4 mm. |
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Peduncles | absent. |
absent or erect, 0.05–0.2 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. |
1 per node, narrowly turbinate, 2–4(–4.5) × 1–2 mm, glabrous; teeth 5, erect, 0.3–0.7 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. |
2.5–4 mm; perianth white, glabrous; tepals connate proximal 1/4, essentially monomorphic, oblong to narrowly obovate; stamens long-exserted, (2–)3–6 mm; filaments subglabrous or sparsely puberulent proximally. |
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Achenes | brown, 2–2.5(–3) mm, glabrous except for occasional papillate beak. |
brown, (2.5–)3.5–4 mm, glabrous. |
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2n | = 40. |
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Eriogonum corymbosum |
Eriogonum leptophyllum |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Nov. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Clayey flats, slopes, and outcrops, mixed grassland and sagebrush communities, pinyon-juniper woodlands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 1500-2300 m (4900-7500 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; NV; TX; UT; WY
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AZ; CO; NM; UT
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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.) |
Eriogonum leptophyllum is found mainly on southern Colorado Plateau in San Juan County, Utah, and adjacent Montezuma County, Colorado, southward into Apache County, Arizona, and in northwestern New Mexico (Bernalillo, Cibola, McKinley, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, San Juan, Santa Fe, and Taos counties). The species is found rarely in eastern Coconino and Navajo counties, Arizona, in the north, and in northern Gila County, Arizona, to the south. It is disjunct to the Bitter Spring Creek area of Capitol Reef National Park in Garfield County, Utah (R. Fleming 199, SJNM). The species, when dwarfed as it sometimes is on wind-swept ridges, resembles E. microthecum var. simpsonii, and has a form and aspect much more typical of that species than of the large, mature plants of E. leptophyllum. Mature plants on the southern edge of the range (as in McKinley County) tend to be grayish rather than the more common yellowish green seen elsewhere. This species is considered a “life medicine” by the Navajo (Diné) people (C. Arnold, pers. comm.), being used in a variety of ways, including as an analgesic, a gynecological aid, a snake-bite remedy (D. E. Moerman 1986), and in casting spells (Arnold Clifford, pers. comm.). P. A. Vestal (1952) listed similar uses of this species by the Ramah Navajo of northwestern New Mexico, including an infusion of roots for stomach trouble, a decoction of the whole plant for snake bite, and for postpartum pain. The species is cultivated occasionally as a horticultural novelty. There are two anomalous populations of particular interest. These occurred in the Broomfield area of San Juan County, New Mexico. The specimens are of low, spreading herbs to 0.8 dm with linear-oblong leaf blades 1–2 cm long but only 1–2 mm wide. The inflorescences are cymose but typically with one branch suppressed. A peduncle is present in some, this being up to 3.5 mm and erect; it is always at the basal node of the inflorescence. The involucres are turbinate and long (4–6 mm). A mature achene has not been observed. The plants flowered in late May and early June. Efforts to find such plants again have been unsuccessful. Searches in the late summer and early fall, when they ought to be in fruit, have found only plants that clearly can be assigned to Eriogonum leptophyllum. Generally, the two anomalous collections, both made by J. Mark Porter in the 1980s, resemble that species. Until such odd plants can be found again, and studied in detail, the significance of those populations cannot be ascertained. (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. 251. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Eriogonum > subg. Eucycla | Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Eriogonum > subg. Eucycla | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | E. effusum subsp. corymbosum | E. effusum var. leptophyllum | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Bentham: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 14: 17. (1856) | (Torrey) Wooton & Standley: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 16: 118. (1913) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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