Eriogonum niveum

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Eriogonum niveum
Eriogonum niveum.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Eriogonum
Species:
E. niveum
Binomial name
Eriogonum niveum

Eriogonum niveum is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name snow buckwheat. It is native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, where it occurs in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. [1] [2] [3] It flowers late in the summer. [4]

Description

This wild buckwheat is quite variable in appearance. [2] It has spreading stems that grow usually grow erect, but may be decumbent or prostrate along the ground. It forms a hairy mat generally up to 40 to 60 centimetres (16 to 24 inches) [1] [2] tall and wide, but it can reach a height and width of one meter at times. [5] Most of the leaves are in a tuft on the woody base of the plant. They are up to 6 centimeters long and have a woolly texture. The inflorescence is a series of branching stems with sparse clumps of small white, pink, or reddish flowers. [1] [2] [4]

Eriogonum heracleoides, the parsnipflower buckwheat Eriogonum heracleoides 2.jpg
Eriogonum heracleoides, the parsnipflower buckwheat

Native American groups had several medicinal uses for this plant. It was used as a remedy for colds and cuts. [6] The roots of this plant and Eriogonum heracleoides were brewed into a tea which was taken to treat diarrhea. [5] This plant grows on grassy plains, sagebrush deserts, and ponderosa pine forests mainly east of the Cascade Range. [1] [2] It is a pioneer species, taking hold in thin, dry soils where other plants have not yet established. [5] Other plants in the habitat may include Artemisia tridentata , Purshia tridentata , Juniperus occidentalis , Pseudoroegneria spicata , Sporobolus airoides , Elymus wawawaiensis , Poa secunda , Achnatherum hymenoides , and Nassella comata . [5]

This plant can be cultivated. It can be planted in areas that have little soil, such as mine spoils. It can be used in xeriscaping. The cultivar 'Umatilla' is used for rangeland restoration and soil stabilization. [5]

In the wild this plant provides food for mule deer and bighorn sheep. It is also utilized by the rare Mormon metalmark butterfly. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Artemisia tridentata</i> Species of plant

Artemisia tridentata, commonly called big sagebrush, Great Basin sagebrush or (locally) simply sagebrush, is an aromatic shrub from the family Asteraceae, which grows in arid and semi-arid conditions, throughout a range of cold desert, steppe, and mountain habitats in the Intermountain West of North America. The vernacular name "sagebrush" is also used for several related members of the genus Artemisia, such as California sagebrush.

<i>Eriogonum</i> Genus of North American wild buckwheats

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.

<i>Eriogonum fasciculatum</i> Species of flowering shrub

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. 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.

<i>Eriogonum davidsonii</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum davidsonii is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Davidson's buckwheat. This plant is native to the southwestern United States and northern Baja California. It grows in sandy or gravelly soils, mixed grassland, saltbush, chaparral, sagebrush communities as well as oak and montane conifer woodland. It is a spindly annual herb growing up to 40 centimeters in height. Leaves are fuzzy, basal, and round with wavy or wrinkly margins fuzzy. They are two centimeters wide. The plant is variable in appearance, but is usually erect with thin, naked, neatly branching stems bearing clusters of tiny flowers at widely spaced nodes. Each flower is about 2 millimeters wide, bell-shaped, and can be white, pink or red. Flowering occurs May to September.

<i>Eriogonum ovalifolium</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum ovalifolium is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name cushion buckwheat. It is native to western North America from California to Alberta, where it is a member of many plant communities in varied habitats, including the sagebrush steppe and alpine regions.

<i>Eriogonum umbellatum</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum umbellatum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name sulphurflower buckwheat, or simply sulphur flower. It is native to western North America from California to Colorado to central Canada, where it is abundant and found in many habitats, including the sagebrush steppe and alpine areas. It is an extremely variable plant and hard to identify because individuals can look very different from one another. Also, there are many varieties. It may be a perennial herb blooming by summer with stems 10 centimeters tall and two to six clusters of flowers, with a whorl of leaves below the stems, or a sprawling shrub approaching two meters high and wide. The leaves are usually woolly and low on the plant, and the flowers come in many colors from white to bright yellow to purple.

<i>Eriogonum heracleoides</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum heracleoides is a plant of western North America that has many flowering clusters which are usually cream colored, or off-white. It can usually be found in rocky areas, such as sagebrush deserts and Ponderosa pine forests. Parsnipflower buckwheat is in the genus Eriogonum and the family Polygonaceae, which is a family of plants known as the "knotweed family". It inhabits much of the western part of the United States and southern British Columbia.

<i>Eriogonum ampullaceum</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum ampullaceum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Mono buckwheat.

<i>Eriogonum brachyanthum</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum brachyanthum is a species of wild buckwheat that is commonly known as shortflower buckwheat. It is native to eastern California and western Nevada, particularly the Mojave Desert region, where it is common to abundant, and even sometimes weedy. It is also known from southern Oregon. The plant grows in sandy habitats such as desert flats and sagebrush. It also grows in pinyon-juniper and montane conifer woodlands. It is an annual herb that grows 30 to 40 centimeters tall. Leaves are located at the base of the stem, woolly, and oval or rounded in shape. The top of the stem is occupied by a branching inflorescence bearing many widely spaced clusters of flowers. Each individual flower is about a millimeter wide and light yellow in color. Flowers bloom from April to November.

<i>Eriogonum latens</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum latens is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Inyo buckwheat. It is native to the western Great Basin region, in the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the Inyo Mountains of California and the White Mountains, which extend just into western Nevada. It is an uncommon member of the flora in the sagebrush and woodlands of these mountains, where it grows in granitic sandy soils.

<i>Eriogonum sphaerocephalum</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum sphaerocephalum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names rock buckwheat and round-headed desert buckwheat. It is native to the western United States.

<i>Eriogonum pelinophilum</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum pelinophilum is a rare species of wild buckwheat known by the common name clay-loving wild buckwheat. It is endemic to the state of Colorado in the United States, where it is known from only two counties. The most recent estimates available suggest there are 12 occurrences in existence for a total of about 278,000 individual plants in Delta and Montrose Counties. At least 7 occurrences observed in the past have not been relocated but are not yet believed extirpated. This plant is federally listed as an endangered species of the United States.

<i>Eriogonum douglasii</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum douglasii is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Douglas' buckwheat. It is native to the western United States, including the Pacific Northwest and part of the Great Basin.

Eriogonum codium is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names basalt desert buckwheat and Umtanum Desert wild buckwheat. It is endemic to Washington in the United States, where it is known only from Hanford Reach National Monument in Benton County. It was discovered in 1995 during an inventory of the biodiversity of the monument and described to science in 1997.

Eriogonum diatomaceum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Churchill Narrows buckwheat. It is endemic to Nevada in the United States, where it is known only from the Pine Nut Mountains in Lyon County. It is limited to the Churchill Narrows near Fort Churchill State Historic Park. This plant was discovered in 1997 and described to science in 2002.

Eriogonum visheri is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names Dakota wild buckwheat and Visher's buckwheat. It is native to the Great Plains in the United States, where it is known from North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana.

<i>Cirsium perplexans</i> Species of thistle

Cirsium perplexans is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Rocky Mountain thistle and Adobe Hills thistle. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it occurs in the Colorado and Gunnison River Valleys in the Rocky Mountains.

<i>Eriogonum exilifolium</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum exilifolium is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name dropleaf buckwheat. It is native to Wyoming and Colorado in the United States.

<i>Eriogonum thymoides</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum thymoides is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name thymeleaf wild buckwheat, or simply thymeleaf buckwheat.

<i>Eriogonum soredium</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum soredium is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Frisco buckwheat. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where it is known only from Beaver County. There are four populations, all located in the San Francisco Mountains. It is a candidate for federal protection.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Eriogonum niveum. Washington Burke Museum.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Eriogonum niveum. Flora of North America.
  3. Eriogonum niveum. NatureServe.
  4. 1 2 Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 30. ISBN   0-87842-280-3. OCLC   25708726.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Eriogonum niveum. USDA NRCS Plant Guide.
  6. Eriogonum niveum. University of Michigan Ethnobotany.