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buckwheat, two-whorl buckwheat

salty buckwheat, smooth two-whorl buckwheat

Habit Herbs, annual; taproot slender.
Stems

arising directly from the root, spreading to decumbent, solid, not fistulose or disarticulating into ringlike segments, glabrous or minutely strigose or glandular.

mostly spreading, 0.5–2 dm, glabrous.

Leaves

usually persistent through anthesis, basal and rosulate or basal and cauline, alternate;

petiole present (basal leaves);

blade narrowly lanceolate to oblanceolate or spatulate to orbiculate, margins entire.

basal and cauline;

basal petiolate, petiole 0.5–2 cm, blade spatulate, (1–)2–4 × (0.5–)1–2.5 cm, glabrous;

cauline sessile, blade narrowly lanceolate to oblanceolate, 0.5–4.5 × 0.2–1 cm.

Inflorescences

terminal, cymose;

branches mostly dichotomous, not brittle or disarticulating into segments, round, minutely strigose or glandular, glabrous;

bracts 3 per node, connate basally, scalelike, triangular, not awn-tipped, glabrous or sparsely glandular.

spreading, 0.5–2.5(–3) dm, glabrous, occasionally glandular at proximal nodes;

bracts 0.5–4 mm.

Peduncles

straight or flexed, slender to filiform, sometimes absent.

straight, slender to filiform, 0.1–4 cm, glabrous, or absent.

Flowers

(6–)9–15 per involucral cluster at any single time during full anthesis;

perianth yellow to reddish yellow, broadly campanulate when open, narrowly urceolate when closed, pilose abaxially;

tepals 6, monomorphic, entire apically;

stamens 9;

filaments basally adnate, glabrous;

anthers yellow, oval.

perianth yellow, 1.5–3 mm;

tepals lanceolate;

filaments 1.5–2 mm;

anthers 0.2–0.3 mm.

Achenes

usually included, light brown, not winged, 3-gonous, glabrous.

2–2.5 mm.

Seeds

embryo curved.

Involucral

bracts in 2 whorls of 3, connate proximally, lanceolate, not awn-tipped.

bracts 2–8 × 2–3 mm, glabrous.

x

= 20.

2n

= 40.

Stenogonum

Stenogonum salsuginosum

Phenology Flowering Apr–Sep.
Habitat Clay hills and flats, saltbush communities
Elevation 1300-2200 m (4300-7200 ft)
Distribution
from USDA
w United States
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species 2 (2 in the flora).

Stenogonum is clearly allied to Eriogonum subg. Ganysma, specifically E. trichopes and its close relatives. The genus is readily distinguished from Eriogonum by an involucre reduced to a series of two foliaceous whorls of three lanceolate bracts.

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

Stenogonum salsuginosum is common to abundant and even weedy on the Colorado Plateau. The species occurs from Washakie County, Wyoming, southward into eastern Utah and extreme western Colorado to northern Arizona (just entering Mohave County) and northwestern New Mexico.

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

Key
1. Leaves basal; peduncles flexed; stems mostly erect, sparsely glandular
S. flexum
1. Leaves basal and cauline; peduncles straight; stems mostly spreading, glabrous
S. salsuginosum
Source FNA vol. 5, p. 431. Author: James L. Reveal. FNA vol. 5, p. 432.
Parent taxa Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Stenogonum
Sibling taxa
S. flexum
Subordinate taxa
S. flexum, S. salsuginosum
Synonyms Eriogonum section S. Eriogonum salsuginosum
Name authority Nuttall: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 4: 19. (1848) Nuttall: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 4: 19. (1848)
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