Eriogonum ovalifolium
Species of wild buckwheat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eriogonum ovalifolium is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name cushion buckwheat. It is native to western North America from California to Alberta, where it is a member of many plant communities in varied habitats, including the sagebrush steppe and alpine regions.[3]
| Eriogonum ovalifolium | |
|---|---|
| |
| var. ovalifolium | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Polygonaceae |
| Genus: | Eriogonum |
| Species: | E. ovalifolium |
| Binomial name | |
| Eriogonum ovalifolium | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
|
List
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Description
In general, the species is a tough perennial herb which forms mats in gravelly soil or amongst rocks and produces erect inflorescences up to 35 centimeters (14 in) in height, blooming from early to mid-summer.[3] The flowering stems are leafless.[3] The pale green to gray leaves at the base of the plant are rounded and woolly and have petioles.
The clumps of flowers are yellow, light red or pink, purple, or white.[3]
Taxonomy
Eriogonum ovalifolium was named in 1834 by Thomas Nuttall, placing it in the Eriogonum genus. Along with its genus it is classified as part of the Polygonaceae family.[4]
Varieties
There are four[5] to thirteen varieties of this species.[4]
- Eriogonum ovalifolium var. caelestinum, native to California and Nevada. It was described in 1972 by James L. Reveal.[6]
- Eriogonum ovalifolium var. depressum, native to Alberta, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Wyoming. It was described in 1905 by Joseph William Blankinship.[7]
- Eriogonum ovalifolium var. eximium, native to eastern California and western Nevada. The variety was originally described as a species by Ivar Tidestrom in 1923 and classified as a variety in 1975 by John Thomas Howell.[8]
- Eriogonum ovalifolium var. focarium, endemic to Idaho. It was described by Reveal and Donald Holmes Mansfield in 2014.[9]
- Eriogonum ovalifolium var. monarchense, endemic to just Fresno County, California. It was described by Dana Adrian York in 2002.[10]
- Eriogonum ovalifolium var. nivale, it is native to British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Utah. It was described as a species by Frederick Vernon Coville in 1893 and reduced to a variety by Marcus E. Jones in 1903.[11]
- Eriogonum ovalifolium var. ochroleucum, is native to just Montana and Wyoming. It was also described as a species in 1900 by Per Axel Rydberg, but attributed to John Kunkel Small. It was reduced to a variety in 1941 by Morton Peck.[12]
- Eriogonum ovalifolium var. ovalifolium, this variety is the autonym for the species and it grows in the western US from Colorado and Montana westward to the Pacific states.[13]
- Eriogonum ovalifolium var. pansum, is native to just Idaho and Montana. It was described by Reveal in 1989.[14]
- Eriogonum ovalifolium var. purpureum, grows throughout the western United States and into Alberta and British Columbia. It was described by Thomas Nuttall as a spcies in 1848 and reduced to a variety in 1860 by Elias Durand.[15]
- Eriogonum ovalifolium var. rubidum, is endemic to the state of Oregon. It was described as a species in 1906 by Michel Gandoger and reclassified as a variety in 2014 by Reveal and Mansfield.[16]
- Eriogonum ovalifolium var. vineum, the Cushenbury buckwheat, is endemic to the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California.[5] It is federally listed as an endangered species of the United States, and the main threat to its existence is mining.[5] It was described by John Kunkel Small in 1898 as a species and changed to a variety by Aven Nelson in 1911.[17]
- Eriogonum ovalifolium var. williamsiae, the steamboat buckwheat, is known only from the Steamboat Hills near Reno, Nevada.[18] It is a federally listed endangered species and is listed as critically endangered and fully protected by the State of Nevada.[19][20] Threats to it have been reduced but the populations are still quite small.[18] It was scientifically described by James L. Reveal in 1981.[21]
Eriogonum ovalifolium has a total of 36 synonyms due to changes in classification to its many varieties. Of these 18 are species names.[2]
| Name | Year | Synonym of: | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eriogonum davisianum S.Stokes | 1943 | var. purpureum | = het. | |
| Eriogonum depressum (Blank.) Rydb. | 1912 | var. depressum | ≡ hom. | |
| Eriogonum dichroanthum Gand. | 1906 | var. purpureum | = het. | |
| Eriogonum elongatum Nutt. ex Benth. | 1856 | var. ovalifolium | = het. | |
| Eriogonum eximium Tidestr. | 1923 | var. eximium | ≡ hom. | |
| Eriogonum nivale Canby ex Coville | 1893 | var. nivale | ≡ hom. | |
| Eriogonum nuttallii Gambel ex Nutt. | 1848 | var. purpureum | = het. | |
| Eriogonum ochroleucum Small ex Rydb. | 1900 | var. ochroleucum | ≡ hom. | |
| Eriogonum orthocaulon Small | 1906 | var. purpureum | = het. | |
| Eriogonum polyceps Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray | 1870 | var. ovalifolium | = het. | |
| Eriogonum purpureum (Nutt.) Nutt. ex Benth. | 1856 | var. purpureum | ≡ hom. | |
| Eriogonum rhodanthum A.Nelson & P.B.Kenn. | 1906 | var. nivale | = het. | |
| Eriogonum roseiflorum Gand. | 1906 | var. purpureum | = het. | |
| Eriogonum rubidum Gand. | 1906 | var. rubidum | ≡ hom. | |
| Eriogonum tenellum Nutt. | 1848 | var. purpureum | = het., nom. illeg. homonym. post. | |
| Eriogonum vineum Small | 1898 | var. vineum | ≡ hom. | |
| Eucycla ovalifolia (Nutt.) Nutt. | 1848 | E. ovalifolium | ≡ hom. | |
| Eucycla purpurea Nutt. | 1848 | var. purpureum | ≡ hom. | |
| Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym; = heterotypic synonym | ||||
Range
Cushion buckwheat is native to southwestern Canada and the western United States as far east as the Rocky Mountain states. In Canada it only grows naturally in British Columbia and Alberta. It grows in every state of the northwest from Washington and Oregon east through Idaho to the western two-thirds of Montana and Wyoming. To the south in Colorado it only grows in the westernmost counties and likewise only grows in San Juan County, New Mexico. In the southwestern US it is common throughout Utah and Nevada, but only found in northern Arizona and eastern California.[22]
