Eriogonum ovalifolium var. eximium

Brown-margined buckwheat

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Brown-margined buckwheat is a native perennial found in northern Sierra Nevada Mountains at Alpine County's Job's Peak in granite habitats at elevations of 1,700 to 2,500 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces delicate white flowers in compact clusters 1 to 2.5 centimeters wide. Growing with small erect stems 1 to 5 centimeters tall that are densely covered in woolly white tomentose hairs, the plant forms a low, spreading cushion up to 3 decimeters in diameter. Its oval leaves are small, ranging from 0.3 to 1.5 centimeters long, densely covered in white felt-like hairs with distinctive brown-tinged margins. The compact, low-growing form and white flowers emerging from a woolly base make this alpine buckwheat a charming high-elevation species.

Habitat: Granite

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 1700-2500 m

Bioregions: n SNH (Job's Peak, Alpine Co.)

California counties: Siskiyou, El Dorado

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