Eriogonum sphaerocephalum var. sphaerocephalum
Rock Buckwheat

Family: Polygonaceae (Buckwheat family)

Photo taken by mid Moses Coulee, dry sagebrush desert

Flowers:

involucres generally greater than one, head or umbel-like, immediately subtended by several leafy bracts; perianth distinctly stalk-like at the base, pubescent externally, 5-9 mm, yellow; involucre lobes at least half as long as the tube and generally reflexed or spreading

Leaves:

cauline; more or less oblanceolate, generally greater than 3 mm wide and 10-40 mm long; generally more tomentose below than above

Plant:

perennial; shrub or subshrub, ascending to erect; 5-40 cm tall by 30-60 cm in diameter

Habitat:

sagebrush desert and scablands to Ponderosa pine forest

Distribution of species:

Chelan and Douglas Counties south to Northern California, east Cascades east to west Idaho and Nevada

Distribution of genus:

more or less 250 species: North America