Eriogonum abertianum (Abert Buckwheat)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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The Navajo (Diné) people use these plants as a lotion for both themselves and their horses (P. A. Vestal 1952). [source]

Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Abert Buckwheat, Abert's Buckwheat, Abert's Wild Buckwheat, Aberts Buckwheat

Description

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Family Polygonaceae

Herbs, shrubs , or small trees , sometimes monoecious or dioecious. Stems erect , prostrate , twining , or scandent , often with swollen nodes, striate , grooved , or prickly. Leaves simple , alternate, rarely opposite or whorled , petiolate or subsessile ; stipules often united to a sheath (ocrea) . Inflorescence terminal or axillary , spicate , racemose, paniculate , or capitate. Pedicel occasionally articulate . Flowers small, actinomorphic , bisexual , rarely unisexual . Perianth 3-6-merous, in 1 or 2 series, herbaceous, often enlarged in fruit or inner tepals enlarged, with wings , tubercles , or spines. Stamens usually (3-) 6-9, rarely more; filaments free or united at base ; anthers 2-loculed, opening lengthwise; disk annular (often lobed ) . Ovary superior, 1-loculed; styles 2 or 3, rarely 4, free or connate at lower part. Fruit a trigonous , biconvex , or biconcave achene; seed with straight or curved embryo and copious endosperm.

About 50 genera and 1120 species: worldwide, but primarily N temperate with a few species in tropical regions ; 13 genera (two endemic) and 238 species (65 endemic) in China.[1]

Genus Eriogonum

Shrubs , subshrubs , or herbs, sometimes nearly arborescent , perennial , biennial, or annual , polycarpic or, rarely, monocarpic (subg. Pterogonum), synoecious (sometimes polygamodioecious in subg. Micrantha and Oligogonum, rarely dioecious in subg. Oligogonum) ; taproot slender to stout, solid, or rarely chambered (subg. Pterogonum). Stems prostrate or decumbent to erect , infrequently absent, glabrous or pubescent , sometimes glandular ; caudex stems absent or woody, tightly compact to spreading and at or just below surface, or spreading to erect and above surface; aerial flowering stems arising at nodes of caudex branches, at distal nodes of aerial branches, or directly from the root , prostrate or decumbent to erect, slender to stout, solid or slightly to distinctly hollow and fistulose, rarely disarticulating into ringlike segments (subg. Clastomyelon). Leaves usually persistent through anthesis , occasionally persistent through growing season or longer , sometimes marcescent or quickly deciduous, basal and sometimes sheathing up stems, cauline, or basal and cauline, alternate, opposite, or whorled , 1 per node or fasciculate; petiole usually present, sometimes obscure ; blade linear to orbiculate, entire apically. Inflorescences terminal or terminal and axillary , cymose and dichotomously or trichotomously branched, or racemose, simple or compound-umbellate, subcapitate , or capitate, occasionally distally uniparous due to suppression of secondary branches; branches mostly dichotomous except for initial trichotomous node, not brittle or disarticulating into segments, round and smooth , rarely grooved , angled or ridged , variously lanate , tomentose , floccose , sericeous , hispid , pilose-pubescent, or puberulent , occasionally glandular, rarely scabrellous; bracts 2-13 or more at proximal nodes, usually 3 distally, connate proximally, leaflike, semileaflike, or scalelike, not awn-tipped, glabrous or variously pubescent or glandular. Peduncles absent or erect to deflexed . Involucres 1-8 or more per cluster , smooth or ribbed , tubular , cylindric or narrowly turbinate to broadly campanulate or hemispheric ; teeth 5-10, sometimes lobelike, not awned . Flowers bisexual or, infrequently, unisexual , (2-) 6-100 per involucre at any single time during full anthesis, sometimes with stipelike base ; perianth usually white to red or variously yellow, broadly campanulate when open, cylindric to urceolate when closed , glabrous or pubescent or glandular abaxially; tepals 6, connate proximally to 2 their length , monomorphic or dimorphic , usually entire apically, rarely emarginate ; stamens 9; filaments adnate basally, glabrous or pubescent; anthers usually red to cream or yellow, oblong to ellipsoid or oval . Achenes included to exserted, various shades of brown, black, or occasionally yellow, rarely winged or ridged (subg. Pterogonum), lenticular or 3-gonous, glabrous or pubescent. Seeds: embryo curved or straight. x = 10.

Species ca. 250: North America (including n Mexico).

Eriogonum is the basal group of subfam. Eriogonoideae. Like all of its related genera, Eriogonum is a highly derived tetraploid taxon that has undergone rapid evolution in arid regions of western North America. The circumscription of the genera in the subfamily is now being studied molecularly and cladistically. The approach taken here is to divide the group into numerous genera, acknowledging that the resulting Eriogonum remains paraphyletic and that all genera of Eriogoneae are imbedded within Eriogonum as presently circumscribed. Resolution may well come with the reduction of the subfamily to two genera, Eriogonum and Pterostegia (including Harfordia Greene, a genus of Baja California, Mexico), or, at the other extreme, reducing Eriogonum to just two species. What the future will hold is difficult to ascertain at this time.

As presently circumscribed, Eriogonum is one of the larger genera in the flora area, being exceeded in numbers of species only by Carex (ca. 480), Astragalus (ca. 350), and Penstemon (ca. 250). As a native North American genus, Eriogonum (ca. 250) is second only to Penstemon. Ecologically, species of Eriogonum occur from the seashore to the highest mountains in the United States. They are among the last plants seen atop the Sierra Nevada and on the €œoutskirts€ of Badwater in Death Valley. About one-third of the species are uncommon to rare in their distribution. The United States Department of the Interior currently lists some as endangered or threatened species. Some species tend to be weedy, and some of the annual species are aggressively so.

Species of Eriogonum have long been regarded as among the most difficult in North America to distinguish. Regional treatments should be consulted before attempting to use this review, especially for plants found outside California or the Intermountain West. Geographic distribution is a useful character, and such information is given fully in keys and discussion here to aid with identification. In addition to regional keys noted below, keys exist for Texas (J. L. Reveal 1970b), the Pacific Northwest (J. L. Reveal 1973), and the Great Plains (R. Kaul 1986). In each instance the nomenclature should be compared with that presented here. To aid in the identification of species belonging to the largest subgenus , Eucycla, regional keys are given here, thereby avoiding a long and complex key to the more than 100 species.

In collecting specimens of Eriogonum, try to obtain leaves (especially for annuals), fruits (especially those belonging to subg. Pterogonum), and ample flowers (rarely difficult to accomplish). Field observations on flower color, pubescence , and overall size and habit are useful. Some species (especially those of subg. Oligogonum) are dioecious, with the mature staminate and pistillate plants occasionally markedly different in aspect . It is not uncommon for several annual species to grow intermixed in disturbed places, so care must be taken to prevent mixed collections . Finally, as in all cases, collectors should try to sample the range of variation rather than concentrate on extremes.

Eriogonum has a long history of aboriginal use. Today, several members of the genus are in cultivation, especially in the rock or alpine garden (G. Nicholls 2002).

Members of Eriogonum are hosts for a number of butterfly species, including such endangered ones as the El Segundo dotted-blue (Euphilotes battoides allyni), Smith's dotted blue (Euphilotes enoptes smithi), and Lange's metalmark (Apodemia mormo Iangei). Species of the genus Euphilotes spend their entire life on particular species complexes. Other butterfly species found in association with Eriogonum and relatives (see P. A. Opler and A. B . Wright 1999) include the western green hairstreak (Callophrys affinis), desert green or Comstock's hairstreak (C. comstocki), bramble hairstreak (C. dumetorum), Lembert's hairstreak (C. lemberti), Sheridan's green hairstreak (C. sheridani), green hairstreak (C. viridis), varied blue (Chalceria heteronea), Rocky Mountain dotted-blue (Euphilotes ancilla), Bauer's dotted-blue (E. baueri), Bernardino dotted-blue (E. bernardino), Ellis's dotted-blue (E. ellisi), Pacific dotted-blue (E. enoptes), intermediate dotted-blue (E. intermedia), Mojave dotted-blue (E. mojave), pallid dotted-blue (E. pallescens), Rita dotted-blue (E. rita), Spalding's dotted-blue (E. spaldingi), Gorgon copper (Gaeides gorgon), gayas or Edward's blue (Hemiargus ceranus gyas), blue copper (Lycaena heteronea), small blue (Philotiella speciosa), Boisduval's blue (Plebeius icarioides), acmon blue (P. acmon), lupine blue (P. lupini), veined blue (P. neurona), California hairstreak (Satyrium californica), nut-brown hairstreak (S. saepium), Avalon scrub-hairstreak (Strymon avalona), and gray hairstreak (S. melinus). Flowering plants of Eriogonum are infrequently visited by the sooty hairstreak (Satyrium fulginosum), the flowers being a source of nectar for adults . According to Opler, several additional species and subspecies of these butterflies remain to be described.[2]

Physical Description

Species Eriogonum abertianum

Herbs, erect or spreading , annual , 0.5-6(-7) dm, hirsute , greenish, grayish, tawny , or reddish. Stems: caudex absent; aerial flowering stems prostrate to erect, solid, not fistulose, 0.1-1 dm, appressed-hirsute. Leaves basal and cauline; basal: petiole 0.5-6 cm, villous to hoary , blade oblong to obovate , 1-4 × 1-3 cm, villous to hoary-tomentose and greenish, tawny, or reddish on both surfaces, margins plane , occasionally crenulate ; cauline sessile, blade linear, lanceolate, or narrowly obovate, 1-4 × 0.3-2 cm, similar to basal blade. Inflorescences cymose , open to diffuse , 5-40(-60) × 5-50 cm; branches hirsute; bracts 3-6, semileaflike, 2-10 × 1-3 mm. Peduncles ascending to erect, mostly straight, slender, 0.5-6 cm, villous to hoary-tomentose. Involucres broadly campanulate , 2-3 × 2-3 mm, villous-canescent; teeth 5, lobelike, usually reflexed , 4-6 mm. Flowers 3-4.5 mm; perianth white to pale yellow in early anthesis , becoming reddish or rose, glabrous ; tepals dimorphic , those of outer whorl orbiculate-cordate, those of inner whorl lanceolate to spatulate ; stamens mostly exserted, 1.5-3.5 mm; filaments mostly pilose proximally. Achenes brown to dark brown, lenticular , 0.6-1 mm, glabrous. 2n = 40. [source]

Eriogonum abertianum is widespread and common to abundant or even locally weedy. It is basically a species of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts, ranging from San Luis PotosÃ and Sonora in northern Mexico to western Texas and much of New Mexico and Arizona. [source]

This species is exceedingly variable and can be differentiated into several geographic and seasonal phases (C. C. Baskin et al. 1993; G. A. Fox 1989, 1990, 1990b). Variety abertianum (including E. pinetorum) is a more northern and western, summer- and fall-flowering expression, with an erect habit and a cymose-paniculate inflorescence when the plants are in fruit. A vernal phase (var. villosum) of this northern form occurs throughout much of the same range (mainly Arizona, New Mexico, and the Sonoran Desert of Mexico). It is a hairier and more spreading expression, with elongated inflorescence branches bearing more floriferous involucres. Variety ruberrimum (including E. cyclosepalum) is the more southern, summer- to fall-flowering expression (mainly New Mexico, Texas, and the Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico) with a prostrate to spreading, compact habit and a racemose inflorescence at full maturity. There is a vernal expression of this as well; it differs from the vernal form of var. abertianum in having longer peduncles. There are no sharp morphologic or geographic boundaries for any of these expressions, and while the fruiting extremes are clearly distinguishable, far too many specimens are impossible to place satisfactorily. [source]

Habit: Forb/herb

Flowers: Bloom Period: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December. • Flower Color: pale pink

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 18-24" tall.

Habitat

Sandy, gravelly, or clayey flats, washes, and slopes , mixed grassland, saltbush, greasewood, creosote bush , blackbrush, and manzanita communities, oak and conifer woodlands; 400-2500 m [3].

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Annual

Growth

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 7.8

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Domain: Eukaryota () - Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Plantae () - Haeckel, 1866 - Plants
  - Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae () - Cavalier-Smith, 1981
    - Phylum: Tracheophyta () - Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - Vascular Plants
      - Subphylum: Euphyllophytina ()
        Infraphylum: Radiatopses () - Kenrick & Crane, 1997
        Class: Spermatopsida () - Brongniart, 1843
        Subclass: Caryophyllidae () - Takhtajan, 1967
        Superorder: Polygonanae () - Takhtajan Ex Reveal, 1992
        Order: Caryophyllales () - Perleb, 1826
        Family: Polygonaceae () - A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons. - knotweed, renouées
        Subfamily: Eriogonoideae ()
        Tribe: Eriogoneae ()
        Genus: Eriogonum () - A. Michaux, 1803 - Wild buckwheat [Greek erion, wool, and gony, knee, alluding to the hairy nodes of the species first described, E. tomentosum]
        Specific epithet: abertianum - Torr.
        Variety: ncluding E. pinetorum) is a more norther
        Botanical name: - Eriogonum abertianum Torr.

Synonyms

E. abertianum pinetorum (Greene) S. Stokes • E. abertianum var. lappulaceum (Greene) S. Stokes • E. abertianum var. neomexicanum Gandoger • E. abertianum var. ruberrimum Gandoger • E. abertianum var. villosum Fosberg • E. cyclosepalum Greene • E. pinetorum Greene • Eriogonum abertianum var. cyclosepalum (Greene) Fosberg

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Eriogonum

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 521 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

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Notes

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Contributors

Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 11, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 02, 2008:

Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium
School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, The Deaver Herbarium, Northern Arizona University
USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers

Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2647157
Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-21055
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 21055
International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 329731-2
MoBot NameID: 26000031
Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDPGN08010
U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: ERABV ERAB
Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 36243

Footnotes

Anjen Li, Bojian Bao, Alisa E. Grabovskaya-Borodina, Suk-pyo Hong, John McNeill, Sergei L. Mosyakin, Hideaki Ohba & Chong-wook Park "Polygonaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 277. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
James L. Reveal "Eriogonum". in Flora of North America Vol. 5. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
"Eriogonum abertianum". in Flora of North America Vol. 5. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

Eriogonum abertianum

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Polygonaceae

Genus Eriogonum

Physical Description

Species Eriogonum abertianum

Size/Age/Growth

Habitat

Biology

Reproduction

Growth

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Notes

Similar Species

Members of the genus Eriogonum

More Info

Further Reading

Notes

Contributors

Data Sources

Identifiers

Footnotes