Eriogonum cernuum

Nuttall

Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 4: 14. 1848.

Common names: Nodding wild buckwheat
IllustratedEndemic
Synonyms: Eriogonum cernuum var. psammophilum S. L. Welsh Eriogonum cernuum subsp. tenue (Torrey & A. Gray) S. Stokes Eriogonum cernuum var. tenue Torrey & A. Gray Eriogonum cernuum var. umbraticum Eastwood Eriogonum cernuum subsp. viminale S. Stokes Eriogonum cernuum var. viminale (S. Stokes) Reveal
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 5. Treatment on page 401. Mentioned on page 385, 402, 403.

Herbs, spreading to erect, annual, 0.5–6 dm, glabrous, grayish, greenish or reddish. Stems: caudex absent; aerial flowering-stems erect, solid, not fistulose, 0.3–2 dm, glabrous. Leaves basal or sheathing up stems 2–10 cm; petiole 1–4 cm, tomentose; blade round-ovate to orbiculate, (0.5–) 1–2 (–2.5) × (0.5–) 1–2 (–2.5) cm, white to grayish-tomentose abaxially, tomentose to floccose or glabrate and grayish or greenish adaxially, margins plane. Inflorescences cymose, open to diffuse, 5–50 × 5–40 cm; branches glabrous; bracts 3, scalelike, 1–2 × 1–2.5 mm. Peduncles spreading to ascending or deflexed to cernuous, infrequently absent, straight or curved, slender, 0.1–2.5 cm, glabrous. Involucres turbinate, (1–) 1.5–2 × 1–1.5 mm, glabrous; teeth 5, erect, 0.4–0.7 mm. Flowers 1–2 mm, glabrous; perianth white to pinkish, becoming rose to red; tepals dimorphic, those of outer whorl pandurate, those of inner whorl obovate; stamens mostly exserted, 1–2 mm; filaments pilose proximally. Achenes light-brown to brown, 3-gonous, 1.5–2 mm, glabrous.


Phenology: Flowering Apr–Oct.
Habitat: Sandy to gravelly or clayey flats and slopes, mixed grassland, saltbush, sagebrush, and mountain mahogany communities, oak, pinyon-juniper, and conifer woodlands
Elevation: 600-3100(-3300) m

Distribution

V5 829-distribution-map.gif

Alta., Sask., Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.Mex., Oreg., S.Dak., Utah, Wash., Wyo.

Discussion

Eriogonum cernuum is widely distributed, being infrequent to common or even abundant and weedy. It is common throughout most of its range in southeastern Oregon, eastern California, southern Idaho, Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, and New Mexico. The species is rare in southeastern Washington (Franklin County). It is less common and more widely scattered in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, and on the northern Great Plains in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, western South Dakota, and western Nebraska. The northern Great Basin phase, with sessile involucres, has been called var. viminale, but this difference now appears to be ecologic rather than genetic.

Seeds of the nodding wild buckwheat were gathered by the Navajo (Diné) people, pounded into a meal, and eaten dry or made into a porridge (P. A. Vestal 1952; L. C. Wyman and S. K. Harris 1951).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"dm" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.

... more about "Eriogonum cernuum"
light-brown;brown +
included +  and exserted +
3-gonous +
usually red +  and cream or yellow +
oblong +  and ellipsoid or oval +
James L. Reveal +
Nuttall +
deciduous +  and persistent +
stipelike +
Eriogonum sect. Ganysma +
awn-tipped +  and simple +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
greenish +, grayish +  and white +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
tomentose +  and floccose or glabrate +
round-ovate;orbiculate +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
not awn-tipped +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
glandular +, pubescent +  and glabrous +
scale-like +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br />) +
grooved +, disarticulating +  and dichotomous +
not brittle +
scabrellous +
ridged +, angled +  and round +
spreading +  and erect +
whorled +, opposite +  and alternate +
Nodding wild buckwheat +
Alta. +, Sask. +, Ariz. +, Calif. +, Colo. +, Idaho +, Mont. +, Nebr. +, Nev. +, N.Mex. +, Oreg. +, S.Dak. +, Utah +, Wash. +  and Wyo. +
600-3100(-3300) m +
unisexual +, , +  and bisexual +
not attenuate +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
decumbent to erect +  and prostrate +
not fistulose +
slender;stout +
unwinged +  and winged +
black +, red +, brown +  and yellowish +
exserted +  and included +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
spheroidal +, 4-gonous +, lenticular +, biconvex +, discoid +, 3-gonous +  and 2-gonous +
Sandy to gravelly or clayey flats and slopes, mixed grassland, saltbush, sagebrush, and mountain mahogany communities, oak, pinyon-juniper, and conifer woodlands +
open +  and cymose +
capitate +  and subcapitate +
racemose +, paniculate +  and cymose-paniculate +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (50 cm500 mm <br />0.5 m <br />) +
cymelike +, paniclelike +, racemelike +  and spikelike +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (40 cm400 mm <br />0.4 m <br />) +
connate +  and free +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
nonmembranous +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
in whorls +, opposite +, alternate +  and rosulate +
marcescent +
persistent +
bractlike +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
not swollen +
orthotropous +
accrescent +
curved +  and straight +
spreading;ascending or deflexed +
erect to deflexed +
filiform;capillary +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
glabrous +, villous +, puberulent +, hirsute +, pilose +  and hispid +
cylindric +  and urceolate +
accrescent +
fleshy +, indurate +  and membranous +
with extrafloral nectaries +  and not articulate +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br />) +
Flowering Apr–Oct. +
homostylous +  and 3-carpellate +
Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia +
, +  and solid +
slender;stout +
persistent +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
decumbent to erect +  and prostrate +
spreading +  and erect +
glabrous +, short-hispid +, villous +, hirsute +, floccose +  and tomentose +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br />) +
penicillate +, fimbriate +  and capitate +
deciduous +  and persistent +
2-lobed +  and cylindric +
coriaceous +  and membranous +
consisting of a series +  and tubular +
distinct +
erect;spreading or recurved +
spreading;erect +
Eriogonum cernuum var. psammophilum +, Eriogonum cernuum subsp. tenue +, Eriogonum cernuum var. tenue +, Eriogonum cernuum var. umbraticum +, Eriogonum cernuum subsp. viminale +  and Eriogonum cernuum var. viminale +
chambered +  and solid +
slender +  and stout +
Eriogonum cernuum +
Eriogonum subg. Ganysma +
species +
emarginate +  and entire +
1/5 +  and 1/2 +
lobed +  and laciniate +
coriaceous +
0.04 cm0.4 mm <br />4.0e-4 m <br /> (0.07 cm0.7 mm <br />7.0e-4 m <br />) +
persistent +
membranous +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
annual +  and perennial +
reddish +, greenish +  and grayish +
synoecious +, monocarpic +, polycarpic +  and , +
3 +, 2 +  and 1 +