California buckwheat | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Polygonaceae |
Genus: | Eriogonum |
Species: | E. fasciculatum |
Binomial name | |
Eriogonum fasciculatum | |
Eriogonum fasciculatum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names California buckwheat and flat-topped buckwheat. Characterized by small, white and pink flower clusters that give off a cottony effect, this species grows variably from a patchy mat to a wide shrub, with the flowers turning a rusty color after blooming. [2] This plant is of great benefit across its various habitats, providing an important food resource for a diversity of insect and mammal species. It also provides numerous ecosystem services for humans, including erosion control, post-fire mitigation, increases in crop yields when planted in hedgerows, and high habitat restoration value. [3]
Eriogonum fasciculatum is variable in appearance, forming a patchy, compact mat or shrub approaching 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in height and 2.5 m (8.2 ft) across. The stems are up to 25 centimetres (9.8 in) long, and may be wooly, hairy, or smooth depending on the variety. The leaves are up to 1.5 cm (0.59 in) long and 4 mm (0.16 in) wide, with a long, narrow linear shape, and the edges of the leaves (margins) are rolled under. [4]
The inflorescence is up to 20 cm (7.9 in) tall by 15 cm (5.9 in) wide, with 3 to 8 involucres that are up to 4 mm (0.16 in) tall and 3 mm (0.12 in) wide. The flowers appear in dense, frilly clusters, with each individual flower colored pink and white and only a few millimeters across. The fruit is an achene, up to 2.5 mm (0.098 in) large and lacking any hair. [4] After the fruits are set, the dry calyx provides buoyancy to the detached achenes, assisting in their dispersal by wind and water. [5]
There are a number of distinct varieties, they include:
This common shrub is native to the Southwestern United States, California, and northwestern Mexico. It is found from the coasts and deserts of California and Baja California; eastwards through the Southern California Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges; and further east into the Sonoran and Mojave deserts and the Great Basin. It is also distributed into Baja California Sur south to the Tres Virgenes and Vizcaino peninsula. [7]
It grows on slopes and dry washes in diverse habitats, including chaparral, coastal sage scrub, grasslands, sagebrush scrub, pinyon-juniper woodland, and creosote bush scrub. [3]
California buckwheat has been used as a food crop and medicinal plant by various Native American tribes. [12] Some tribes make tea from the leaves, stems, and roots; whilst other tribes use the seeds to be consumed raw or used in porridges and baked items. [13]
The Tongva, who call the plant wilakal, gather the leaves before flowering to make into a strong thick tea and grind the dried roots to use for headaches and stomach problems. [14]
This widespread species is used extensively as a traditional medicinal plant by Native Americans for a variety of ailments, including the treatment of headache, diarrhea, and wounds. [15] The Zuni people use a poultice of powdered root and apply it to cuts and arrow or bullet wounds. A decoction of the root is taken after parturition to heal lacerations. This same decoction is also taken for hoarseness and colds involving the throat. [16]
This species is the most important native source of honey in California, particularly attractive to numerous species of native bees and other pollinators, and is a good source of nectar over many months in dryer areas. [17] It also attracts introduced honey bees (Apis mellifera). [3]
California buckwheats are nectar food plants for several butterflies, notably the Bernardino dotted-blue ( Euphilotes bernardino ), lupine blue ( Icaricia lupini ), Mormon metalmark (Apodemia mormo), and Behr's metalmark ( Apodemia virgulti ). [17] Probably the butterfly most commonly seen with the species is the nut-brown hairstreak (Satyrium saepium), which frequents plants in full flower. [17] It is a larval host for the Acmon blue, blue copper, Electra buckmoth, Gorgon copper, lupine blue, and western green hairstreak. [18]
Eriogonum fasciculatum is cultivated as an ornamental plant, for planting in native plant, drought tolerant, and wildlife gardens, and for larger designed natural landscaping and habitat restoration projects. It is also used in hedgerows to increase the yield of crops, to mitigate post-fire areas, and for erosion control. [3]
Chaparral is a shrubland plant community found primarily in California, in southern Oregon and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate and infrequent, high-intensity crown fires.
Eriogonum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae. The genus is found in North America and is known as wild buckwheat. This is a highly species-rich genus, and indications are that active speciation is continuing. It includes some common wildflowers such as the California buckwheat.
Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is within the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.
Adenostoma fasciculatum, commonly known as chamise or greasewood, is a flowering plant native to California and Baja California. This shrub is one of the most widespread plants of the California chaparral ecoregion. Chamise produces a specialized lignotuber underground and at the base of the stem, known as a burl, that allow it to resprout after fire has off burned its stems. It is noted for its greasy, resinous foliage, and its status as one of California's most iconic chaparral shrubs.
Eriogonum nudum is a perennial shrub of the wild buckwheat genus which is known by the common name naked buckwheat or nude buckwheat.
Apodemia mormo langei, the Lange's metalmark butterfly, is an endangered North American butterfly. It is a subspecies of the Mormon metalmark and belongs to the family Riodinidae. The butterfly is endemic to California, where it is known from one strip of riverbank in the San Francisco Bay Area. A 2008 count estimated the total remaining population at 131 individuals. Since 2011, this number has dropped to about 25–30.
Lupinus bicolor is a species of lupine known as the miniature lupine, Lindley's annual lupine, pigmy-leaved lupine, or bicolor lupine.
Eriogonum arborescens is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Santa Cruz Island buckwheat.
Eriogonum cinereum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names coastal buckwheat and ashyleaf buckwheat.
Eriogonum giganteum, with the common name St. Catherine's lace, is a species of wild buckwheat in Southern California.
Eriogonum umbellatum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name sulphurflower buckwheat, or simply sulphur flower.
Eriogonum wrightii is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names bastardsage and Wright's buckwheat. It is native to the Southwestern United States, California, and northwest Mexico, where it grows in many plant communities, such as chaparral, in rocky habitats from mountains to deserts.
Brickellia californica, known by the common name California brickellbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae.
Ceanothus verrucosus is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae known by the common names wart-stem ceanothus, barranca brush, coast lilac and white coast ceanothus. It is endemic to northwestern Baja California and San Diego County, where it grows in coastal sage scrub and coastal succulent scrub habitats. It is considered a rare species north of the international border, as most of the valuable coastal land that hosts this plant in the San Diego area has been claimed for development. In California, several extant populations still remain scattered around the region, such as one protected at Torrey Pines.
Eriogonum ampullaceum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Mono buckwheat.
Eriogonum kennedyi is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Kennedy's buckwheat.
Xylorhiza tortifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, known by the common names Mojave-aster and Mojave woodyaster.
Acamptopappus sphaerocephalus is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name rayless goldenhead. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it occurs in southern California, southern Nevada, southern Utah, and Arizona.
Purshia glandulosa is a species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names antelope bitterbrush, desert bitterbrush, Mojave antelope brush, and cliff-rose.
Eriogonum elongatum, commonly known as longstem buckwheat or wand buckwheat, is a species of wild buckwheat native to coastal southern and Baja California.