Eriogonum tripodum

Tripod buckwheat

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.2

Tripod buckwheat is a California native shrub found in northern Coast Ranges and northern and central Sierra Nevada Foothills on serpentine landscapes at elevations of 300 to 800 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces delicate yellow flowers in small clusters with distinctive involucres 3 to 4.5 millimeters long. Growing as a subshrub 2.5 to 5 meters tall with a sprawling 3 to 6 meter diameter, it develops with relatively glabrous stems. Its basal leaves are densely tomentose with blades 1.5 to 2 centimeters long and up to 1 centimeter wide, creating a soft, compact appearance. The fruit is 2.5 to 3 millimeters long, with a sparsely hairy tip characteristic of this unique serpentine-dwelling species.

Habitat: Serpentine

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: (100)300-800 m

Bioregions: NCoRI, n&ampc SNF.

California counties: Tuolumne, Tehama, Lake, Glenn, Colusa, Nevada, Amador, El Dorado, Mariposa, Napa, Placer, Shasta

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