Eriogonum strictum |
Eriogonum crosbyae |
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Blue Mountain buckwheat, strict buckwheat |
Crosby's buckwheat, Crosby's wild buckwheat |
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Habit | Herbs, erect, loosely to densely matted, not scapose, 1–5 × 1–10 dm, tomentose or glabrous. | Herbs, matted, scapose, 0.05–1.5(–2) × (0.1–)1–3 dm, floccose to tomentose or glabrous, sometimes glandular, greenish or grayish. | ||||||||||||
Stems | spreading to erect, with or without persistent leaf bases, up to 1/4 height of plant; caudex stems absent or spreading to matted; aerial flowering stems erect to spreading, slender, solid, not fistulose, 1–3 dm, tomentose or glabrous. |
matted, with persistent leaf bases, up to 1/5 height of plant; caudex stems matted; aerial flowering stems scapelike, weakly erect to erect, slender, solid, not fistulose, 0.02–1.5(–1.8) dm, floccose to tomentose or glabrous, occasionally also or only sparsely to densely glandular. |
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Leaves | basal, 1 per node; petiole rarely twisted or curled, 1–6 cm, mostly tomentose; blade elliptic to ovate, 0.5–2.5(–4) × (0.3–)0.5–1.5 cm, lanate, tomentose to floccose on both surfaces, sometimes sparsely tomentose to floccose and greenish or floccose to subglabrous or glabrous adaxially, margins plane. |
basal, fasciculate in terminal tufts; petiole 0.2–3(–3.5) cm, tomentose, infrequently glandular; blade oblanceolate to spatulate or elliptic to obovate or ovate, (0.5–)1–2(–3) × 0.2–1(–1.5) cm, densely white- or grayish-tomentose on both surfaces, sometimes less and greenish white adaxially, margins plane. |
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Inflorescences | umbellate-cymose to cymose, 1–20 × 3–25 cm; branches dichotomous, tomentose to floccose or less often glabrous; bracts 3, scalelike, triangular, 1–3 mm. |
capitate, 0.7–1.5 cm; branches absent; bracts 3, narrowly triangular to triangular, scalelike, 1–3 mm. |
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Peduncles | absent. |
absent. |
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Involucres | 1 per node, rarely 2–5 per cluster, narrowly turbinate to turbinate-campanulate, 4–6 × 1.5–5 mm, tomentose or glabrous; teeth 5, erect, 0.5–1.3 mm. |
(3–)5–8 per cluster, turbinate to campanulate, (1.5–)2–5(–5.5) × 2–4(–4.5) mm, rigid or membranous, tomentose to floccose, occasionally glabrous except for floccose teeth, rarely sparsely pilose and glandular; teeth 5–7, erect to spreading or reflexed, 0.5–1.5 mm. |
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Flowers | 3–5(–6) mm; perianth yellow or white to rose or purple, glabrous; tepals connate proximally, dimorphic, those of outer whorl elliptic to nearly orbiculate, 2–3 × 2–3 mm, those of inner whorl oblanceolate to oblong, 3–4 × 1–2 mm; stamens included to slightly exserted, 2–5 mm; filaments pilose proximally. |
1.5–3.5(–4) mm, glabrous or occasionally minutely glandular, pustulose in some; perianth yellow to pale yellow or, rarely, cream; tepals connate proximal 1/4–1/3, monomorphic, oblong to oblong-obovate; stamens exserted, 1.5–4 mm; filaments glabrous or sparsely pilose proximally. |
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Achenes | light brown to brown, 3–3.5 mm, glabrous. |
light brown, 2–4 mm, glabrous or sometimes with minute bristles on beak. |
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2n | = 40. |
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Eriogonum strictum |
Eriogonum crosbyae |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Aug. | |||||||||||||
Habitat | White tuffaceous shale volcanic outcrops, metamorphic rock outcrops, or basaltic or granitic sandy flats, washes, slopes, and ridges, saltbush and sagebrush or high-elevation sagebrush to alpine tundra communities, juniper or montane conifer woodlands | |||||||||||||
Elevation | (1200-)1400-3100 | |||||||||||||
Distribution |
CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; WA
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ID; MT; NV; OR
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Discussion | Varieties 4 (4 in the flora). Eriogonum strictum, E. niveum, and E. ovalifolium form a complex of closely related species differing in leaf, inflorescence branching, and flower features. Variety proliferum appears to be the basal entity of the complex, approaching both E. niveum and E. ovalifolium var. pansum in its pubescence and branching pattern. Also, specimens of var. proliferum are sometimes difficult to differentiate from E. nudum var. oblongifolium. Careful observation, though, will permit well-made collections to be easily distributed among the individual species. An alternative taxonomy is to reduce all of the taxa to E. ovalifolium and recognize a series of subspecies and varieties. It is possible that additional study will show that E. strictum is sufficiently distinct from its tomentose to floccose counterparts to justify recognition of E. proliferum. In that case, both var. anserinum and var. greenei would be assigned to the latter species. Or, one could follow C. L. Hitchcock et al. (1955–1969, vol. 2) and recognize subsp. strictum as distinct from subsp. proliferum, with the latter consisting of varieties proliferum, anserinum, and greenei. Members of the Eriogonum strictum are food plants for the Bauer’s dotted-blue butterfly (Euphilotes baueri). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Eriogonum crosbyae, as now defined, is widely scattered in the valley bottoms and foothills, and atop several mountain ranges of central Idaho (Blaine, Butte, Camas, Custer, and Lemhi counties) and in western Montana (Deer Lodge and Ravalli counties). It is disjunct to southwestern Idaho (Owyhee Mountains, Owyhee County), southeastern Oregon (Guano and Coleman valleys, Harney County, and Fish Fin Rim, Lake County), and in northwestern Nevada (Washoe and Humboldt counties south through Douglas, Lyon, and Pershing counties to Mineral County). It also occus in the Marys River Peak area of Elko County, Nevada. The species may be subdivided into four phases, for which names are available. The vast majority of populations have bright yellow flowers with pustulose bases and midveins. The pustulose condition may also be observed in Eriogonum chrysops (on pale greenish-yellow flowers) and in E. mancum (with cream-colored flowers). Populations with pale yellow flowers here assigned to E. crosbyae occur in the mountains near Mackay, Idaho, and cream-colored flowers are found near Challis and around Salmon, both well outside the known ranges of E. chrysops and E. mancum. Final resolution of the taxonomy of this group awaits further study. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 317. | FNA vol. 5, p. 277. | ||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Eriogonum > subg. Eucycla | Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Eriogonum > subg. Eucycla | ||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||
Synonyms | E. capistratum, E. capistratum var. muhlickii, E. capistratum var. welshii, E. meledonum, E. ochrocephalum var. alexanderae, E. verrucosum | |||||||||||||
Name authority | Bentham: Trans. Linn. Soc. London 17: 414. (1836) | Reveal: Brittonia 33: 442, fig. 1. (1981) | ||||||||||||
Web links |