''Eriogonum inflatum'', the desert trumpet, is a

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

of the family

Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants known Common name, informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The Botanical name, name is Basionym, based on the genus ''Polygonum'', ...

. The plant possesses very small yellow or pink

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s and an inflated stem just below branching segments. Eriogonum: from the Greek ''erion'', "wool", and ''gonu'', "joint or knee", in reference to the hairy or woolly joints of some of the species of the genus, but not particularly ''inflatum''. It is found in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

and other deserts.

Stems

The swelling of the stems was assumed to have been influenced by the presence of gall insects, most notably of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

'' Odynerus''. The female

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

produces a small hole on the inflated portion of the desert trumpet, packs the cavity with

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e and lays her eggs upon them, providing a food source, and a protected environment for the offspring. Irritation caused by this process was said to have enlarged the cavity over time. Recently, research performed by a world authority on the genus ''Eriogonum'', Dr. J. L. Reveal of the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

, revealed the swollen stem of ''Eriogonum inflatum'' is due to high concentrations of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

in the solid stem and seems to be related to gas regulation. Some insects utilize the swollen stem as a

larder A larder is a cool area for storing food prior to use. Originally, it was where raw meat was larded—covered in fat—to be preserved. This method slowed spoilage by sealing out air, bacteria, and moisture. In colder larders (4°C/40°F or lower) ...

, but the inflation is ''not'' caused by the larval feeding of gall insects. Joshua Tree National Park - Desert Trumpet - 2

Uses

It is known that some Native American tribes that once inhabited the surrounding areas of the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan St ...

(most commonly

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three languages do not form a single subgroup and th ...

) would remove the stalk of ''E. inflatum'' at the base, and then cut the inflated bulb in half, producing a makeshift pipe. A mixture of Indian tobacco and

mistletoe Mistletoe is the common name for obligate parasite, obligate parasitic plant, hemiparasitic plants in the Order (biology), order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they ...

would be smoked primarily for leisure purposes. This plant makes a brief appearance in '' Star Trek: Voyager'', in Season 3, episode 1, at around the 3 minute 47 second mark, when the character " Neelix" is shown to be looking at a picked specimen.

External links

UC Jepson Manual treatment - ''Eriogonum inflatum''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3056650 inflatum Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Death Valley National Park Flora without expected TNC conservation status