Flora of North America species comparison

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Eriogonum flavum var. piperi

alpine golden buckwheat, alpine golden wild buckwheat, yellow buckwheat

Piper's buckwheat, Piper's golden buckwheat, Piper's wild buckwheat, yellow buckwheat

Habit

Herbs, matted, 0.2–4 × 1–10 dm, tomentose to floccose.

Plants loose to compact mats, 1–6 dm wide.

Stems

caudex absent or spreading;

aerial flowering stems erect or nearly so, slender, solid, not fistulose, arising at nodes of caudex branches and at distal nodes of short, nonflowering aerial branches, (0.1–)0.5–2(–3) dm, tomentose to floccose.

Aerial flowering stems

mostly erect, (0.5–)1–2(–3) dm.

Leaves

basal, occasionally in rosettes;

petiole 0.5–4 cm, tomentose to floccose;

blade linear-oblanceolate to oblong or elliptic, 1–7(–9) × (0.3–)0.5–1.5 cm, densely whitish- or grayish-tomentose abaxially, mostly tomentose to floccose or glabrous and green adaxially, margins entire, plane.

blades linear-oblanceolate to oblong or narrowly elliptic, 2–7(–9) × 0.3–0.8(–1) cm, densely tomentose abaxially, tomentose to floccose or glabrous and greenish adaxially.

Inflorescences

subcapitate or umbellate, 0.5–3(–5) × 0.3–2.5(–3) dm;

branches tomentose to floccose;

bracts 4–6, leaflike to semileaflike at proximal node, 0.5–2 × 0.2–0.5 cm, sometimes absent immediately below involucre.

subcapitate to umbellate;

branches 0.2–1 cm.

Involucres

1 per node, turbinate to campanulate, 3–9 × 2–5 mm, tomentose to floccose;

teeth 5–8, erect, 0.2–1 mm.

usually turbinate, 4–9 mm.

Flowers

3–7 mm, including 0.2–1.5 mm stipelike base;

perianth pale to bright yellow, densely pubescent abaxially;

tepals monomorphic, oblong;

stamens exserted, 3–6 mm;

filaments pilose proximally.

(4–)5–7 mm, including 1–1.5 mm stipelike base;

perianth pale to bright yellow.

Achenes

light brown to brown, 3–5 mm, glabrous except for sparsely pubescent beak.

= 76, 80.

Eriogonum flavum

Eriogonum flavum var. piperi

Phenology

Flowering Jun–Sep.

Habitat

Sandy to gravelly flats and slopes in mixed grassland and sagebrush communities, and in montane to subalpine conifer woodlands

Elevation

(700-)1200-2800(-3200) m ((2300-)3900-9200(-10500) ft)

Distribution

AK; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; OR; SD; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; SK; YT

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

ID; MT; OR; WA; WY; AB; BC

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

Eriogonum flavum approaches E. arcuatum morphologically in southeastern Wyoming, and a clear distinction is not always possible when the plants are immature or the herbarium material is poor.

Variety polyphyllum, as traditionally circumscribed, is an alpine phase of both var. flavum and var. piperi; it is encountered infrequently in scattered range in the high mountains of southwestern Montana and northwestern Wyoming.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Variety piperi is the common and widespread phase of the species, found mainly west of the Continental Divide in southern Alberta, southern British Columbia, eastern Washington, northern Idaho, and western Montana south into northeastern Oregon and northwestern Wyoming. It is only slightly variable, the major exception being depauperate individuals at high elevations in harsh exposures; these have been recognized by some as var. polyphyllum. The length of the stipelike base shortens from west to east, but only rarely are individuals in Montana troublesome to place either here or in var. flavum. The plants do well in cultivation and are now widely available.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key

1. Stipelike bases of flowers 1-1.5 mm; usually w of Continental Divide; sw Alberta and British Columbia, n Idaho, w Montana, ne Oregon, e Washington, nw Wyoming	var. piperi
1. Stipelike bases of flowers 0.2-1 mm; usually e of Continental Divide; ec Alaska, s Alberta, sw Manitoba, s Saskatchewan, wc Yukon, Montana, w Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, e Wyoming, and Colorado	→ 2
2. Leaf blades (0.3-)1-1.5 cm wide; inflorescence branches 4-20 cm; s Alberta, sw Manitoba, s Saskatchewan, Montana, w Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, e Wyoming, and Colorado	var. flavum
2. Leaf blades 0.4-1 cm wide; inflorescence branches 0.5-2 cm; ec Alaska, wc Yukon	var. aquilinum

Source

FNA vol. 5, p. 371.

FNA vol. 5, p. 372.

Parent taxa

Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Eriogonum

Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Eriogonum > Eriogonum flavum

Sibling taxa

E. abertianum, E. acaule, E. alatum, E. aliquantum, E. allenii, E. alpinum, E. ammophilum, E. ampullaceum, E. androsaceum, E. anemophilum, E. angulosum, E. annuum, E. apiculatum, E. apricum, E. arborescens, E. arcuatum, E. aretioides, E. argillosum, E. argophyllum, E. arizonicum, E. artificis, E. atrorubens, E. baileyi, E. batemanii, E. bicolor, E. bifurcatum, E. brachyanthum, E. brachypodum, E. brandegeei, E. breedlovei, E. brevicaule, E. butterworthianum, E. caespitosum, E. capillare, E. cernuum, E. chrysops, E. cinereum, E. cithariforme, E. clavatum, E. clavellatum, E. codium, E. collinum, E. coloradense, E. compositum, E. concinnum, E. congdonii, E. contiguum, E. contortum, E. correllii, E. corymbosum, E. covilleanum, E. crocatum, E. cronquistii, E. crosbyae, E. cusickii, E. darrovii, E. dasyanthemum, E. davidsonii, E. deflexum, E. deserticola, E. desertorum, E. diatomaceum, E. diclinum, E. divaricatum, E. douglasii, E. eastwoodianum, E. effusum, E. elatum, E. elegans, E. elongatum, E. ephedroides, E. eremicola, E. eremicum, E. ericifolium, E. esmeraldense, E. evanidum, E. exaltatum, E. exilifolium, E. fasciculatum, E. fusiforme, E. giganteum, E. gilmanii, E. glandulosum, E. gordonii, E. gossypinum, E. gracile, E. gracilipes, E. gracillimum, E. grande, E. greggii, E. gypsophilum, E. havardii, E. heermannii, E. helichrysoides, E. hemipterum, E. heracleoides, E. hieracifolium, E. hirtellum, E. hirtiflorum, E. hoffmannii, E. holmgrenii, E. hookeri, E. howellianum, E. hylophilum, E. incanum, E. inerme, E. inflatum, E. intrafractum, E. jamesii, E. jonesii, E. kelloggii, E. kennedyi, E. kingii, E. lachnogynum, E. lancifolium, E. latens, E. latifolium, E. lemmonii, E. leptocladon, E. leptophyllum, E. libertini, E. lobbii, E. loganum, E. lonchophyllum, E. longifolium, E. luteolum, E. maculatum, E. mancum, E. marifolium, E. mensicola, E. microthecum, E. mitophyllum, E. mohavense, E. molestum, E. mortonianum, E. multiflorum, E. natum, E. nealleyi, E. nervulosum, E. nidularium, E. niveum, E. nortonii, E. novonudum, E. nudum, E. nummulare, E. nutans, E. ochrocephalum, E. ordii, E. ostlundii, E. ovalifolium, E. palmerianum, E. panamintense, E. panguicense, E. parishii, E. parvifolium, E. pauciflorum, E. pelinophilum, E. pendulum, E. pharnaceoides, E. plumatella, E. polycladon, E. polypodum, E. prattenianum, E. prociduum, E. pulchrum, E. pusillum, E. pyrolifolium, E. racemosum, E. reniforme, E. ripleyi, E. rixfordii, E. robustum, E. rosense, E. roseum, E. rotundifolium, E. rubricaule, E. rupinum, E. salicornioides, E. saxatile, E. scabrellum, E. scopulorum, E. shockleyi, E. siskiyouense, E. smithii, E. soliceps, E. soredium, E. spathulatum, E. spectabile, E. spergulinum, E. sphaerocephalum, E. strictum, E. subreniforme, E. suffruticosum, E. temblorense, E. tenellum, E. ternatum, E. terrenatum, E. thomasii, E. thompsoniae, E. thornei, E. thurberi, E. thymoides, E. tiehmii, E. tomentosum, E. trichopes, E. tripodum, E. truncatum, E. tumulosum, E. twisselmannii, E. umbellatum, E. ursinum, E. vestitum, E. villiflorum, E. vimineum, E. viridescens, E. viridulum, E. viscidulum, E. visheri, E. watsonii, E. wetherillii, E. wootonii, E. wrightii, E. zionis

E. flavum var. aquilinum, E. flavum var. flavum

Subordinate taxa

E. flavum var. aquilinum, E. flavum var. flavum, E. flavum var. piperi

Synonyms

E. flavum var. polyphyllum, E. polyphyllum

E. piperi, E. flavum subsp. piperi

Name authority

Nuttall: Cat. Pl. Upper Louisiana, no. 34. (1813)

(Greene) M. E. Jones: Contr. W. Bot. 11: 7. (1903)

Web links

Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

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