Eriogonum flavum

Eriogonum flavum
Secure
Secure (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Eriogonum
Species:
E. flavum
Binomial name
Eriogonum flavum
Varieties[2]
  • E. f. var. aquilinum
  • E. f. var. flavum
  • E. f. var. piperi
Synonyms[3]
  • Eriogonum aureum
  • Eriogonum crassifolium
  • Eriogonum lateriflorum
  • Eriogonum piperi
  • Eriogonum polyphyllum
  • Eriogonum sericeum

Eriogonum flavum is a species of wild buckwheat.

Common names

This flower has several common names, including but not limited to: Pipers buckwheat, Pipers golden buckwheat, Yellow umbrella plant,[4] and Pipers Wild Buckwheat.[5]

The species epithet flavum is Latin for yellow and indicates its flower colour.[6][7]

Description

Eriogonum flavum is a perennial herb from taproot and woody caudex that forms dense mats in small areas, with leafless stems approximately 5–20 cm high. The dark green,[4] 2.5–7 cm long leaves are spatulate-oblanceolate with long petioles. The plant is greenish above, while heavily whitish-tomentose below. This perennial herb re-emerges from taproot and woody caudex, and is likely long lived.

Flowers late May to mid July. The inflorescence is a dense umbel (umbrella shaped clusters,[4]) with leaf like bracts at its base. There is one heavily villous involucre, roughly 5–6 mm high per ray of the umbel. The perianth is 4–6 mm long, very hairy, and typically pale yellow. it produces an aroma, that is unpleasant to humans but attracts pollinating bees.[4] Roughly half of the viable population produce flowers in a given season, and seed are uncommon, further supporting longevity. Downhill transport of seeds is primary way of dispersal, but wind probably aids in dispersal uphill. However, downhill growth of caudex branches aids in vegetative dispersal. Fruit are 3–5 mm long three angled achenes that are sparsely pubescent at tip.

"Inflorescences subcapitate or umbellate, 0.5-3(-5) × 0.3-2.5(-3) dm; branches tomentose to floccose; bracts 4-6, leaflike to semileaflike at proximal node, 0.5-2 × 0.2-0.5 cm, sometimes absent immediately below involucre. Involucres 1 per node, turbinate to campanulate, 3-9 × 2-5 mm, tomentose to floccose; teeth 5-8, erect, 0.2-1 mm. Flowers 3-7 mm, including 0.2-1.5 mm stipelike base; perianth pale to bright yellow, densely pubescent abaxially; tepals monomorphic, oblong; stamens exserted, 3-6 mm; filaments pilose proximally. Achenes light brown to brown, 3-5 mm, glabrous except for sparsely pubescent beak."[8]

Human and wildlife uses

The plant has been observed as browse for many species of animal, including deer, elk, horses, bighorn sheep and mountain goats which browse the umbels. Blue grouse consume the leaves, as well as insects. Plains tribes of Native Americans used the mashed roots of this plant as ear plugs, and the flowers as an additive for the tanning of buffalo hides. The roots were eaten by children as a sweet snack

Taxonomy

In 1836 George Bentham published the description of a new species in the Eriogonum genus, which he named Eriogonum flavum and attributed to Thomas Nuttall. Nuttall had published the name in 1813, but the accompanying description is too short to identify the species, making Bentham's later publication the correct description. Alongside the rest of its genus it is classified in the Polygonaceae.[2]

Varieties

There are three accepted varieties of the species.[2]

  • Eriogonum flavum var. aquilinum – Native to Alaska and the Yukon[9]
  • Eriogonum flavum var. flavum – South central Canada and the central US[10]
  • Eriogonum flavum var. piperi – Western Canada and the northwestern US[11]

Eriogonum flavum has 20 synonyms of the species or of two of its varieties.[3]

Table of Synonyms
Name Year Rank Synonym of: Notes
Eriogonum androsaceum var. piperi (Greene) M.E.Jones 1908 variety var. piperi ≡ hom.
Eriogonum aureum Nutt. ex Benth. 1856 species var. flavum = het.
Eriogonum crassifolium Benth. 1836 species var. flavum = het.
Eriogonum flavum Nutt. 1813 species var. flavum = het., diagnosis too brief.
Eriogonum flavum var. caudiciferum S.Stokes 1936 variety var. flavum = het.
Eriogonum flavum subsp. crassifolium (Benth.) S.Stokes 1936 subspecies var. flavum = het.
Eriogonum flavum var. crassifolium (Benth.) Benth. 1856 variety var. flavum = het.
Eriogonum flavum var. foliatum Gand. 1906 variety var. flavum = het.
Eriogonum flavum var. incisum S.Stokes 1936 variety var. flavum = het.
Eriogonum flavum var. linguifolium Gand. 1906 variety var. flavum = het.
Eriogonum flavum var. muticum S.Stokes 1936 variety var. flavum = het.
Eriogonum flavum subsp. piperi (Greene) S.Stokes 1936 subspecies var. piperi ≡ hom.
Eriogonum flavum var. polyphyllum (Small) M.E.Jones 1903 variety var. flavum = het.
Eriogonum flavum subsp. typicum S.Stokes 1936 subspecies E. flavum ≡ hom., not validly publ.
Eriogonum lateriflorum Raf. 1838 species var. flavum = het.
Eriogonum piperi Greene 1897 species var. piperi ≡ hom.
Eriogonum piperi var. longiflorum Gand. 1906 variety var. piperi = het.
Eriogonum piperi var. ochrocephalum Gand. 1906 variety var. piperi = het.
Eriogonum polyphyllum Small 1900 species var. flavum = het.
Eriogonum sericeum Pursh 1813 species var. flavum = het.
Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym; = heterotypic synonym

Habitat

This plant is generally found at moderate to high elevation, and grows on rocky open soils to ridges,[4] or grasslands. Grows at 1,000 m in the Yukon, and as low as 170 m in Alaska, although the average throughout the southern portion of its range is around 2133.6 m. Associated with rock, scree, gravel, silt and loamy substrates.[4] Usually associated with southern facing 20o to 50o slopes.

Distribution

This species of plant has a very extensive range, including most of the Pacific Northwest. It is found north to British Columbia, south to the Blue Mountains of Oregon and California, east to south central Idaho, Colorado, and southwestern Alberta. Subspecies aquilinum is found north to the eastern portions of Alaska and throughout British Columbia and the Yukon.

Cultivation

The noted wildflower author Claude A. Barr regarded yellow umbrella plant as an outstanding garden flower for its green velvety leaves and sulfur yellow flowers. Though it grows on stony soil in barren places in the wild it is successful in ordinary somewhat alkaline soils or even soils high in clay in garden settings. It increases by seed, but the crown and its thick taproot cannot be divided.[12]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ NatureServe 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 POWO 2026a.
  3. 1 2 POWO 2026a; POWO 2026c; POWO 2026d.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Neil L. Jennings Central Beauty: Wildflowers and Flowering Shrubs of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, p. 7, at Google Books
  5. ↑ Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Editors) Flora of North America: Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, part 2, p. 372, at Google Books
  6. ↑ Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. p. 224. ISBN 9781845337315.
  7. ↑ Sia Morhardt and Emil Morhardt California Desert Flowers: An Introduction to Families, Genera, and Species, p. 101, at Google Books
  8. ↑ "Descriptions and articles about the Alpine Golden Buckwheat (Eriogonum flavum) - Encyclopedia of Life". Encyclopedia of Life. Archived from the original on 2015-06-05. Retrieved 2015-06-04.
  9. ↑ POWO 2026b.
  10. ↑ POWO 2026c.
  11. ↑ POWO 2026d.
  12. ↑ Barr, Claude A. (1983). Jewels of the plains : wild flowers of the Great Plains grasslands and hills. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 75–76. ISBN 0-8166-1127-0.

Sources

Web sources

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eriogonum flavum.
  1. Alaska Rare Plant Field Guide, University of Alaska Anchorage, Timm Nawrocki, Justin Fulkerson, Matthew Carlson, Alaska Natural Heritage Program. Accessed pdf on 6/4/2015
  2. Botany.cz, Eriogonum flavum
  3. Discover Life, Plants Database, United States Dept. of Agriculture
  4. Alaska's Changing Boreal Forest, Copy write Oxford University Press, 2006. Edited by F. Stuart Chapen III et al.
  5. Relationships of Site Characteristics to Vegetation in Canyon Grasslands of West Central Idaho and Adjacent Areas, E. W., Tisdale, M., Bramble-Brodahl, Journal of Range Management, Vol. 36, No. 6 (Nov., 1983), pp. 775–778
  6. Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Preserve, Vascular Plant Inventory, Susan Spackman Panjabi and Karin Decker Colorado Natural Heritage Program, Colorado State University, December 30, 2002
  7. A WORKSHOP ON THE USES AND IMPORTANCE OF NATIVE PLANTS OF SASKATCHEWAN, Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Pasture and Grazing Technology Program, September 21 and 22, 1994
  8. Wildflowersearch.com
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