''Eriogonum parvifolium'' is a species in the family Polygonaceae that occurs on

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

formations in the

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

al area of Central and Southern California. This

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

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 ...

grows to a height of 30 to 100 centimeters with a spread of approximately the same dimension. This plant is an important host for a number of

pollinating Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds, ...

insects including certain endangered species. ''E. parvifolium'' occurs both on bluffs along the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

coast as well as Coastal Strand dunes formations, but is restricted to altitudes below 700 meters. In at least one instance within the Carbonera Creek watershed, it occurs farther inland in a Maritime Coast Range Ponderosa Pine forest. This shrub is also known by the common names dune buckwheat, coast buckwheat, cliff buckwheat, or seacliff buckwheat.

Description

The thick

cauline A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

leaves are five to thirty millimeters in size and may be

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflet (bo ...

to rounded. Alternatively leaves may be folded under, with the result of appearing more or less triangular; moreover they are smooth on the upper surfaces and woolly below. Foliage is green with reddish tinge, and the

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

s white to pinkish or yellowish-green. The

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepals when ...

measures 2.5 to 3.0 millimeters. This plant's

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin '' glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

fruits are 2.5 to 3.0 millimeters across.

Ecology

''E. parvifolium'' grows in sandy soils with pH ranging from five to eight (e.g. tolerates mildly acidic to mildly alkaline soils). In cultivation this species will actually tolerate clay soils. While this shrub grows in part to full sun, it may tolerate shade in cultivation. It is not subject to

herbivory A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthp ...

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

, although many smaller

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is '' flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Z ...

will consume its

s, fruits and leaves. This species thrives in rainfall regimes of 39 to 78 centimeters per annum. Dune buckwheat is the

host plant In biology and medicine, a host is a larger organism that harbours a smaller organism; whether a parasitic, a mutualistic, or a commensalist ''guest'' ( symbiont). The guest is typically provided with nourishment and shelter. Examples include ...

to a large variety of insects, and thus there is intense competition among various insects. Specifically it is a host plant to ten different

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described spec ...

species, including the El Segundo blue butterfly and Smith's blue butterfly; moreover, in the case of the El Segundo blue, it is the only host plant used by that species in all of its life stages.

Conservation

Because of the host relationship to number of insect species, ''E. parvifolium'' has been the subject of numerous restoration programs including a significant and well researched program at

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the ...

, one of only three extant colonies of the endangered El Segundo blue.Travis Longcore et al., ''On the perils of ecological restoration and the El Segundo blue butterfly''
/ref>

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5389427 parvifolium Endemic flora of California Flora without expected TNC conservation status