''Eriogonum apricum'' is a rare species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Ione buckwheat. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Amador County, California Amador County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California, in the Sierra Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,474. The county seat is Jackson. Amador County, located within California's Gold Country, is known as "Th ...

, in the United States.

Description

This is a small perennial herb growing in patches no more than 25 centimeters wide and tall. Its straggly erect stems are mostly naked and reddish or brown in color, and they have a few tiny, round, fuzzy leaves toward the base. Atop each thin branch of the stem is an

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

with minute flowers each only a few millimeters wide. There are two varieties of this plant; var. ''prostratum'' is sometimes called Irish Hill buckwheat.

Distribution

This rare plant is

to the Sierra Nevada foothills of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where it is known from fewer than ten occurrences in Amador County. It is named after Apricum Hill, one of its few known locations between Ione and Buena Vista. It is a state and federally listed

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

Ecology

This plant grows on and is named for the

Ione Formation Ione may refer to: Places * Ione, California, a city * Ione, Colorado, an unincorporated community * Ione, Nevada, an unincorporated community * Ione, Oregon, a city * Ione, Washington, a town * Ionopolis or Ione, an ancient town near Anti ...

, a local geologic formation of the iron-rich

oxisol Oxisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy, best known for their occurrence in tropical rain forest within 25 degrees north and south of the Equator. In the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB), they belong mainly to the ferrals ...

soil type. It is a member of a plant community known as the Ione Manzanita Series, where it is commonly associated with the Ione manzanita (''Arctostaphylos myrtifolia''), another rare plant.USFWS
''Eriogonum apricum'' and ''Arctostaphylos myrtifolia'' Five year Review.
July 2010.

Conservation

Threats to the survival of this endangered species include agriculture, development, and erosion.

Habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

from the

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

of common

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , commonly found in nature as quartz. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one of the most complex and abundant f ...

sand,

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

, and

lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...

is a major threat.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Eriogonum apricum'' (Ione buckwheat)Jepson Manual TreatmentUC Photos gallery
apricum Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of Amador County, California Taxa named by John Thomas Howell Ione Formation {{Polygonaceae-stub