Eriogonum deserticola

Colorado desert wild buckwheat

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Colorado desert wild buckwheat is a California native shrub found in southern Desert Southwest (Imperial County) in sandy habitats at elevations of 65 to 200 meters. Flowering from July to January, this plant produces green-yellow to yellow flowers in clusters with distinctive tomentose (woolly) involucres. Growing 6 to 15 decimeters tall with a broad 10 to 20 decimeter diameter, it develops erect stems that are densely woolly to occasionally nearly smooth. Its cauline leaves are round, approximately 0.5 to 1.5 centimeters long, covered in a dense tomentose layer that gives the plant a soft, grayish appearance. The fruit is small, 3 to 4 millimeters long, with a minutely rough beak.

Habitat: Sand

Bloom period: Jul-Jan

Elevation: 65-200 m

Bioregions: s DSon (Imperial Co.)

California counties: Imperial, San Diego, Riverside

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.