Eriogonum esmeraldense var. esmeraldense

Esmeralda wild buckwheat

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: annual · Native

Esmeralda wild buckwheat is a California native annual found in the central Sierra Nevada eastern slope and eastern Sierra Nevada regions in sandy habitats at elevations of 1,700 to 3,200 meters. Flowering from May to October, this plant produces white to pink or reddish flowers with delicate oblanceolate perianth lobes. Growing 5 to 50 centimeters tall with slender, glabrous stems, it forms low, spreading clusters across sandy terrain. Its basal leaves are distinctively round, 0.5 to 2.5 centimeters long, covered in fine hairs and often featuring glandular surfaces. The plant produces small, smooth fruits approximately 1.4 to 1.8 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Locally common. Sand

Bloom period: May-Oct

Elevation: 1700-3200 m

Bioregions: c SNH (e slope), SNE

California counties: Mono, Inyo

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