Flora of North America species comparison

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Eriogonum microthecum

Eriogonum brachypodum

slender buckwheat, slender wild buckwheat

Parry's buckwheat, Parry's wild buckwheat
Habit Subshrubs or shrubs, erect to spreading, not scapose, 0.2–1.5 × (0.6–)1–13(–16) dm, white- to tannish-tomentose, floccose, or glabrous. Herbs, spreading, annual, 0.5–4 dm, glandular, greenish.
Stems

spreading to erect, typically without persistent leaf bases, up to 1/2 height of plant;

caudex stems absent or spreading;

aerial flowering stems erect to spreading, slender, solid, not fistulose, 0.05–1.5 dm, lanate, tomentose, floccose, subglabrous, or glabrous.

caudex absent;

aerial flowering stems erect, solid, not fistulose, 0.2–0.7 dm, glandular.
Leaves

cauline, 1 per node or fasciculate;

petiole 0.1–0.5 cm, tomentose to floccose or glabrous;

blade usually elliptic, sometimes linear to obovate, 0.3–3.5 × (0.07–)0.1–1.2 cm, tomentose abaxially, less so or glabrous adaxially, margins occasionally revolute.

basal;

petiole 1–4 cm, tomentose;

blade orbiculate to cordate, 1–3(–5) × (1.5–)2–5 (5.5) cm, densely white-tomentose abaxially, less so to subglabrous and green adaxially, margins usually smooth.
Inflorescences

cymose, compact, often flat-topped, 0.5–6(–12) × 1–10(–13) cm;

branches dichotomous, whitish-lanate to brownish- or reddish-tomentose to floccose or glabrate, infrequently green or gray and subglabrous or glabrous;

bracts 3, scalelike, linear to triangular, 1–5 mm.

cymose, open to rather diffuse, often flat-topped, 3–40 × 3–100 cm;

branches glandular;

bracts scalelike, 1–3 × 0.5–1.5 mm.
Peduncles

absent or mostly erect, slender, 0.3–1.5 cm, tomentose to floccose.

absent or deflexed, straight, stoutish, 0.1–1.5 cm, glandular.
Involucres

1 per node, turbinate, (1.5–)2–3.5(–4) × 1.3–2.5(–3) mm, tomentose, floccose, subglabrous, or glabrous;

teeth 5, erect, (0.3–)0.5–1(–1.7) mm.

turbinate to campanulate, 1–2.5 × 1.5–2.5 mm, glandular;

teeth 5, erect, 0.3–1 mm.
Flowers

1.5–3(–4) mm;

perianth yellow or white to pink, orange, rose, red, or occasionally cream, glabrous;

tepals connate proximal 1/5–2/5, essentially monomorphic, oblong to obovate;

stamens usually exserted, 2.5–4 mm;

filaments sparsely to densely puberulent proximally.

1–2.5 mm;

perianth white with greenish or reddish midribs, becoming reddish, glabrous;

tepals dimorphic, those of outer whorl ovate to oblong and often auriculate proximally, those of inner whorl usually lanceolate;

stamens included to exserted, 1.5–2.5 mm;

filaments glabrous or pilose proximally.
Achenes

brown, 1.5–3 mm, glabrous.

brown to black, lenticular to 3-gonous, 1.5–2 mm, glabrous.
2n

= 40.

Eriogonum microthecum

Eriogonum brachypodum
Phenology Flowering year-round.
Habitat Sandy to gravelly washes, flats, and slopes, saltbush, creosote bush, greasewood, mesquite, blackbrush, and sagebrush communities, pinyon-juniper woodlands
Elevation 100-2300 m (300-7500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 13 (13 in the flora).

Eriogonum microthecum is used as browse by deer and to a lesser degree by cattle and sheep. Some forms are now in cultivation. The species is reportedly used by the Piute of Nevada in the treatment of tuberculosis, lameness, rheumatism, and bladder trouble (P. Train et al. 1941). S. A. Weber and P. D. Seaman (1985) stated that A. F. Whiting found the plants being used as a tea by the Havasupai in northern Arizona. Members of E. microthecum are food plants for subspecies of the rare pallid blue butterfly (Euphilotes pallescens). Also found on this species is the cythera metalmark (Apodemia mormo cythera). Some authors have referred E. effusum to this species, even though the ranges of the two species do not overlap and intermediates are unknown.

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

Eriogonum brachypodum is variable in overall shape, peduncle length, and shape and size of involucres and flowers. Spreading plants with longish peduncles and narrow involucres occur in southwestern Utah and adjacent portions of Nevada and Arizona; this is the “parryi” phase of the species. Typical E. brachypodum is low and flat-topped, with the inflorescence up to 10 dm across. The involucres are usually sessile and campanulate rather than turbinate. The two phases intergrade completely and a taxonomic distinction is not warranted. Dried plants of the typical phase often are used as decorations.

The species is common and even weedy in places. It occurs from Churchill and Pershing counties, Nevada, south through Mono and Inyo counties to eastern Kern and San Bernardino counties, California, then eastward through Nevada (Clark, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Mineral, and Nye counties) into southwestern Utah (Beaver and Washington counties) and northwestern Arizona (Mohave County). It is much more common in the Mojave Desert than in the Great Basin.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Perianths yellow
→ 2
1. Perianths various shades of white, cream, orange, pink, or red, not yellow
→ 4
2. Flowering stems and inflorescence branches usually glabrous; e Oregon and wc Idaho
var. microthecum
2. Flowering stems and inflorescence branches tomentose to floccose; se Oregon and sw Idaho s to e California and w Nevada
→ 3
3. Leaf blades (0.2-)0.3-0.6(-0.8) cm wide; flowers (1.5-)2-2.5(-3) mm; involucres 2-2.5 mm; achenes 1.5-2 mm; se Oregon and sw Idaho s to e California and w Nevada
var. ambiguum
3. Leaf blades 0.5-1.2 cm wide; flowers 2.5-3 mm; involucres 2.5-4 mm; achenes 2.5-3 mm; ne California, nw Nevada
var. schoolcraftii
4. Tomentum whitish (see also var. alpinum of the Sierra Nevada, California); flowering stems and inflorescence branches infrequently glabrous
→ 5
4. Tomentum brownish or reddish (may be white in var. alpinum), or flowering stems and inflorescence branches essentially glabrous
→ 6
5. Leaf margins not revolute; flowering inflorescence branches floccose or glabrous; northern phase of species
var. laxiflorum
5. Leaf margins revolute or nearly so; flowering inflorescence branches lanate to tomentose, or if subglabrous or glabrous, then southern phase of species
var. simpsonii
6. Plants shrubs, 3-6 dm
→ 7
6. Plants subshrubs, 0.2-1.5(-2) dm
→ 8
7. Flowering stems and inflorescence branches tomentose when young, becoming floccose at maturity; flowers 1.5-2(-2.5) mm; achenes 1.8-2 mm; Death Valley region, California
var. panamintense
7. Flowering stems and inflorescence branches lanate to tomentose at maturity; flowers 2-2.5(-3) mm; achenes 2.5-3 mm; Transverse Ranges, California
E. microthecumvar. corymbosoides
8. Leaf blades elliptic or ovate, margins not revolute; flowers (1.5-)2-3.5(-4) mm
→ 9
8. Leaf blades linear or linear-oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, margins often revolute; flowers 1.5-2.5 mm
→ 10
9. Leaf blades 0.5-1 × (0.2-)0.3-0.5(-0.6) cm; involucres (2-)2.5-3 mm; flowers (2.5-)3-3.5(-4) mm; San Gabriel Mountains, California
var. johnstonii
9. Leaf blades 0.3-0.7(-0.8) × 0.1-0.4 cm; involucres 2.5-3.5 mm; flowers (1.5-)2-3.5 mm; desert ranges of se California, c Nevada, and Utah1f. Eriogonum microthecum var. lapidicola [8. Shifted to left margin—Ed.]
→ 8
10. Involucres 3-4 mm; perianths cream; San Bernardino Mountains, California
var. lacus-ursi
10. Involucres (1.5-)2-3 mm; perianths white, pink, red, or rose; Sierra Nevada of California, or e Nevada and w Utah
→ 11
11. Flowering stems glabrous; leaf blades sparsely floccose or glabrous adaxially; desert ranges, se Nevada
var. arceuthinum
11. Flowering stems white- to brownish-floccose to subglabrous, or reddish-tomentose to floccose; leaf blades floccose to subglabrous adaxially; California or wc Utah
→ 12
12. Tomentum white to brownish; Sierra Nevada, California
var. alpinum
12. Tomentum reddish; desert ranges, wc Utah
var. phoeniceum
Source FNA vol. 5, p. 242. FNA vol. 5, p. 396.
Parent taxa Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Eriogonum > subg. Eucycla Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Eriogonum > subg. Ganysma
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. flavum, 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. 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. 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. 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. flavum, 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
Subordinate taxa
E. microthecum var. alpinum, E. microthecum var. ambiguum, E. microthecum var. arceuthinum, E. microthecum var. johnstonii, E. microthecum var. lacus-ursi, E. microthecum var. laxiflorum, E. microthecum var. microthecum, E. microthecum var. panamintense, E. microthecum var. phoeniceum, E. microthecum var. schoolcraftii, E. microthecum var. simpsonii, E. microthecumvar. corymbosoides
Synonyms E. deflexum subsp. brachypodum, E. deflexum var. brachypodum, E. deflexum subsp. parryi, E. parryi
Name authority Nuttall: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 4: 15. (1848) Torrey & A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 8: 180. (1870)
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).



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