''Eriogonum ovalifolium'' is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name cushion buckwheat. It is native to western North America from

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 ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, where it is a member of many plant communities in varied habitats, including the

sagebrush steppe Sagebrush steppe also known as the sagebrush sea, is a type of shrub-steppe, a plant community characterized by the presence of shrubs, and usually dominated by sagebrush, any of several species in the genus '' Artemisia''.

and alpine regions.

Description

In general, the species is a tough perennial herb which forms mats in gravelly soil or amongst rocks and produces erect

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 up to 35 centimeters (14 in) in height, blooming from early to mid-summer. The flowering stems are leafless. The pale green to gray leaves at the base of the plant are rounded and woolly and have petioles. The clumps of flowers are yellow, light red or pink, purple, or white. Eriogonum ovalifolium 5708

Varieties

There are fourUSFWS
Cushenbury Buckwheat Five-year Review.
August 2009. to eleven''Eriogonum ovalifolium''.
Flora of North America.

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), ...

of this species. They include: *''Eriogonum ovalifolium'' var. ''vineum'', the Cushenbury buckwheat, 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 ...

to the

San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain ...

San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is locat ...

. It is federally listed as an

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 ...

of the United States, and the main threat to its existence is

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 ...

. *''Eriogonum ovalifolium'' var. ''williamsiae'', the steamboat buckwheat, is known only from the Steamboat Hills near

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

.USFWS
Steamboat Buckwheat Five-year Review.
March 2009. It is also a federally listed endangered species, and threats to it have been reduced but the populations are still quite small.

References

External links

* *
Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileThe Nature Conservancy
* {{Authority control ovalifolium Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of Western Canada Flora of California Flora of the Rocky Mountains Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora of the California desert regions