Eriogonum brachypodum
Encyclopedia
Eriogonum brachypodum is a species of wild buckwheat
known by the common name Parry's buckwheat. This annual herb is native to the southwestern United States from California
to Utah
, especially the Mojave Desert
, where it grows in sandy and gravelly substrates. It has a skeletonlike spindly stem which branches many times, reaching anywhere from 5 to 50 centimeters in height and up to a meter in width. There is an array of rounded, dark-colored leaves around the base, each a few centimeters long and fuzzy on the undersides. Most of the plant is actually the spreading inflorescence
. At intervals on the otherwise naked branches hang tiny clusters of glandular flowers a few millimeters wide in involucres of bell-shaped bract
s. Each flower is less than three millimeters wide.
Eriogonum
Eriogonum is the scientific name for a genus of flowering plants, in the family Polygonaceae. The genus is found in North America and is known as wild buckwheat. This is a highly species-rich genus, and indications are that active speciation is continuing...
known by the common name Parry's buckwheat. This annual herb is native to the southwestern United States from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, especially the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
, where it grows in sandy and gravelly substrates. It has a skeletonlike spindly stem which branches many times, reaching anywhere from 5 to 50 centimeters in height and up to a meter in width. There is an array of rounded, dark-colored leaves around the base, each a few centimeters long and fuzzy on the undersides. Most of the plant is actually the spreading inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
. At intervals on the otherwise naked branches hang tiny clusters of glandular flowers a few millimeters wide in involucres of bell-shaped bract
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
s. Each flower is less than three millimeters wide.