''Eriogonum arborescens'' is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Santa Cruz Island buckwheat. Calflora: ''Eriogonum arborescens''
/ref>Jepson eFlora: ''Eriogonum arborescens''
/ref>

Description

''Eriogonum arborescens'' is a woody

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

that grows from in height, and sprawling from in diameter. The stems have shreddy maroon-brown bark. They bear narrow, fuzzy green leaves at the ends of the branches, each 2 to 5 centimeters long and sometimes with edges rolled under. The frilly

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 ...

s of densely clustered flowers erect on nearly naked peduncles. Each flower is only a few millimeters wide, very light pink in color, with nine protruding

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s. The bloom period is from April to October. Eriogonum arborescens 1

Distribution and habitat

This

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 ...

to the northern

Channel Islands of California The Channel Islands () are an eight-island archipelago located within the Southern California Bight in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. They define the Santa Barbara Channel between the islands and the California mainland. The ...

except San Miguel Island. It is found in

coastal sage scrub 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 ...

and

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

habitats, between .

Uses

This species, and most buckwheats (''Eriogonum'' sp.), are of special value to butterflies and native bees.Theodore Payne Foundation, California Natives Wiki: ''Eriogonum arborescens''
/ref> Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center−NPIN.org: ''Eriogonum arborescens''
/ref>

Cultivation

''Eriogonum arborescens'' is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

, for planting in

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equi ...

, drought tolerant, and in butterfly gardens and other

wildlife garden A wildlife garden (or habitat garden or backyard restoration) is an Biophysical environment, environment created with the purpose to serve as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater t ...

s; and for larger designed

natural landscaping Natural landscaping, also called native gardening, is the use of native plants including trees, shrubs, groundcover, and grasses which are local to the geographic area of the garden. Benefits Maintenance Natural landscaping is adapted to t ...

and

habitat restoration Ecological restoration, or ecosystem restoration, is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, destroyed or transformed. It is distinct from conservation in that it attempts to retroactively repair ...

projects. Las Pilitas Nursery Horticultural Database: ''Eriogonum arborescens'' (Santa Cruz Island Buckwheat)
/ref>

References

External links