''Eriogonum thymoides'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name thymeleaf wild buckwheat, or simply thymeleaf buckwheat.
Eriogonum thymoides
'. Washington Burke Museum.

Description

''Eriogonum thymoides'' is an intricately branched subshrub with foliage up to tall and wide and covered in short woolly or silky hairs. Younger plants usually have a very neat compact appearance, and older plants may have a gnarled woody base and sprawl more extensively. The hairy leaves are linear to spatulate and flat or rolled under at the edges and up to 1.0 cm in length. It produces erect flowering stems that project up to above the foliage. Each flower stem has a whorl of small

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 usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

-like leaves near the midpoint and is topped by a head-like

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. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

up to 2 cm wide. The flower is up to 1 cm long and is variable in color, including yellow, white and rosy red, yellow and rosy red, and white. In bud, the flowers are often deep rosy red. The bases of the petals and

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are covered with long hairs. The species is

polygamodioecious Plant reproductive morphology is the study of the physical form and structure (the morphology) of those parts of plants directly or indirectly concerned with sexual reproduction. Among all living organisms, flowers, which are the reproductive st ...

, meaning that some of the plants have both male and bisexual flowers, while others have both female and bisexual flowers. ''Eriogonum thymoides'' can be distinguished from the similar to ''

Eriogonum douglasii ''Eriogonum douglasii'' is a species of Eriogonum, wild buckwheat known by the common name Douglas' buckwheat. It is native to the western United States, including the Pacific Northwest and part of the Great Basin. Description ''Eriogonum dougla ...

'' by its (usually) smaller leaf size, and by its

involucre 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 usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

lobes, which are erect and appressed in ''E. thymoides'', and spreading to reflexed in ''E. douglasii'' (the involucre is the bract that envelopes the base of the flower head). The leaves of ''E. douglasii'' are also often flatter, wider, and more silvery in color. Eriogonum thymoides Matt-Berger iNat labelled

Eriogonum thymoides Matt-Berger iNat labelled

Range and Habitat

''Eriogonum thymoides'' is native to dry regions of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

of the United States, where there are three main population groups.
Eriogonum thymoides
'. Flora of North America. It flowers in mid-spring. This plant grows in

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west. Following is an alph ...

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

forest openings, and mountain ridges. Though it grows in a restricted region it is locally abundant.

Uses

According to one source, this plant has "special value to native bees."''Eriogonum thymoides''
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Gallery

Image: Eriogonum thymoides 3.jpg, Old plant with thick woody base Image: Eriogonum thymoides iNat-72865171.jpg, In bud Image: Eriogonum thymoides iNat-118724818.jpg, Yellow flower form

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5389449 thymoides Flora of Idaho Flora of Oregon Flora of Washington (state) Flora without expected TNC conservation status