''Eriogonum giganteum'', with the common name St. Catherine's lace, is a species of wild buckwheat in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

.Jepson
. accessed 1.14.2014

Distribution

This

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Channel Islands of California The Channel Islands () are an eight-island archipelago located within the Southern California Bight in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. The four Northern Channel Islands are part of the Transverse Ranges geologic province, and ...

. It is found in the

Coastal sage scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is w ...

plant association

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

of the Coastal sage and chaparral sub-ecoregion. One variety of this geographically limited species, ''Eriogonum giganteum'' var. ''compactum'' or the Santa Barbara Island buckwheat, is endemic to and particularly rare on

Santa Barbara Island Santa Barbara Island (Spanish: ''Isla de Santa Bárbara''; Tongva: ''Tchunashngna'') is a small island of the Channel Islands archipelago in Southern California. It is protected within Channel Islands National Park, and its marine ecosystem ...

Description

''Eriogonum giganteum'' is variable in size, from in height and width, to a sprawling or rounded bush over high and wide.Las Pilitas Horticultural Database: ''Eriogonum giganteum'' (St. Catherine's Lace)
/ref> The leathery, woolly, oval-shaped leaves are gray, and clustered sparsely along the mostly naked branches. It is evergreen. The plant flowers with each

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 ...

rising boldly above the foliage on strong stalks. The broad domed blooms are covered densely in carpets of clustered tiny white flowers, that fade to rust red. Each hairy flower is only a few millimeters across.

Varieties

Named

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

of the species currently include: *''Eriogonum giganteum'' var. ''compactum'' — Santa Barbara Island buckwheat, endemic to/rare on

. *''Eriogonum giganteum'' var. ''formosum'' — San Clemente Island buckwheat, native to

San Clemente Island San Clemente Island (Tongva: ''Kinkipar''; Spanish: ''Isla de San Clemente'') is the southernmost of the Channel Islands of California. It is owned and operated by the United States Navy, and is a part of Los Angeles County. It is administered b ...

. *''Eriogonum giganteum'' var. ''giganteum'' — Santa Catalina Island buckwheat, native to Santa Catalina Island.CalFlora Database: ''Eriogonum giganteum'' var. ''giganteum''
/ref>

Cultivation

''Eriogonum giganteum'' is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

, for use in

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

drought tolerant Drought tolerance is the ability to which a plant maintains its biomass production during arid or drought conditions. Some plants are naturally adapted to dry conditions'','' surviving with protection mechanisms such as desiccation tolerance, detox ...

, and

wildlife garden A wildlife garden (or wild garden) is an environment created by a gardener that serves as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater to native and local plants, birds, amphibians, rep ...

s, and in

natural landscaping Natural landscaping, also called native gardening, is the use of native plants and adapted species, including trees, shrubs, groundcover, and grasses which are local to the geographic area of the garden. Benefits Maintenance Natural landsc ...

design projects. With its coarser texture and semi-open form, it can be a good background plant in gardens. It is a

honey plant Honeybees usually collect nectar, pollen, or both from the following species of plants, which are called honey plants, for making honey. Acanthaceae (Acanthus family) *'' Avicennia nitida'' Jacq. or Avicennia ger ...

that supports a numerous diversity and count of

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

s when blooming. It especially supports pollinator insect species native to California, as most of the state's native buckwheats do. It is a very important

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

nectar source plant. The flowers, leaves, and seeds are all used by many smaller animals.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Eriogonum giganteum'' (St. Catherine's lace)Jepson Manual Treatment — ''Eriogonum giganteum''''Eriogonum giganteum'' — Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5389376 giganteum Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Garden plants of North America Butterfly food plants Drought-tolerant plants Flora without expected TNC conservation status