Eriogonum breedlovei is a rare species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Paiute buckwheat. It is endemic to the High Sierra Nevada of California, where its two varieties are uncommon members of the flora in granite and limestone rocky high mountain habitat.

Eriogonum breedlovei
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Eriogonum
Species:
E. breedlovei
Binomial name
Eriogonum breedlovei

Description

edit

Eriogonum breedlovei is a perennial herb forming low mats of spreading stems lined with woolly oval leaves no longer than about a centimeter. The inflorescence is a cluster of tiny white to reddish, hairy flowers.

Varieties

edit

Both varieties of this species are rare:

  • var. breedlovei, Breedlove's buckwheat, is endemic to the Piute Mountains of Kern County, California, where only a few occurrences are known.
  • var. shevockii, Shevock's buckwheat or The Needles buckwheat, can be found on a few Sierra peaks, including The Needles, in Kern and Tulare Counties.
edit