''Eriogonum alatum'', with the common names winged buckwheat and winged eriogonum, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

buckwheat Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum'') or common buckwheat is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. Buckwheat originated around the 6th millennium BCE in the region of what ...

. The plant is native to the western

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

, the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

, and Chihuahua state in México.GRIN-Global Web v 1.9.7.1: taxonomy of ''Eriogonum alatum''
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Varieties

Varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

include: *''Eriogonum alatum'' var. ''alatum'' *''Eriogonum alatum'' var. ''glabriusculum''

Uses

Among the

Zuni people The Zuni (; formerly spelled ''Zuñi'') are Native American Pueblo peoples native to the Zuni River valley. The Zuni people today are federally recognized as the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, and most live in the Pueblo o ...

, the root is eaten as an

emetic Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, preg ...

for stomachaches. An

infusion Infusion is the process of extracting chemical compounds or flavors from plant material in a solvent such as water, oil or alcohol, by allowing the material to remain suspended in the solvent over time (a process often called steeping). An inf ...

of the powdered root is taken after a fall and to relieve general misery.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Eriogonum alatum'' (winged buckwheat)

BRIT.org: Native American Ethnobotany Database on ''Eriogonum alatum''
alatum Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the United States Flora of the Great Plains (North America) Flora of the South-Central United States Flora of Arizona Flora of Chihuahua (state) Flora of New Mexico Flora of Utah Flora of Wyoming Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Plants described in 1853 Taxa named by John Torrey Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Polygonaceae-stub