Eriogonum microthecum var. microthecum

Plants shrubs, (2.5) 3–5 dm tall, 3–7 dm across; stems lacking a caudex, the aerial flowering stems 0.3–0.7 dm long, floccose or glabrous; leaf blades oblanceolate to elliptic, (0.8) 1–2 (2.7) cm long, (0.3) 0.4–0.9 (1.2) cm wide, densely white-tomentose abaxially, floccose or glabrous adaxially, the margins not revolute; inflorescences 3–10 cm long, the branches floccose or glabrous; involucres 2.5–3 mm long, floccose or glabrous; flowers 2–2.5 mm long, the perianth yellow; achenes 2–2.5 mm long.

Flowering Jul-Sep. Gravelly to rocky slopes, saltbush and sagebrush communities, juniper and conifer woodlands; 600–1100 m; Baker, Crook, Grant, Harney, Sherman, Wasco, and Wheeler cos. in Oregon with scattered populations in Washington Co., Idaho.
Continue reading

Eriogonum microthecum var. phoeniceum

Plants subshrubs, 0.5–1.5 dm tall, 1–3 dm across; stems lacking a caudex or caudex sometimes spreading, the aerial flowering stems 0.2–0.6 dm long, tomentose to floccose; leaf blades elliptic, 0.3–0.7 (0.8) cm long, 0.1– 0.4 cm wide, densely reddish-brown-tomentose abaxially, tomentose to floccose adaxially, the margins not revolute; inflorescences 2–6 cm long, the branches tomentose to floccose; involucres 2.5–3.5 mm long, floccose to subglabrous; flowers (1.5) 2–3.5 mm long, the perianth whitish-red to pink, rose, or orange; achenes 2.5–3 mm long.

Continue reading

Eriogonum microthecum var. laxiflorum

Plants subshrubs, (1) 2–4 (5) dm tall, 3–8 dm across; stems lacking a caudex, the aerial flowering stems 0.2– 0.6 (0.8) dm long, floccose or tomentose, rarely glabrous; leaf blade usually elliptic, (0.5) 1–2 (2.5) cm long, (0.1) 0.2–0.6 (0.8) cm wide, densely to sparsely whitish-tomentose abaxially, less so to sparsely whitish- floccose adaxially, the margins not revolute; inflorescences (1) 2–4 (8) cm long, the branches floccose or glabrous; involucres 2–3 (3.5) mm long, subglabrous, glabrous, or merely floccose between angled ridges; flowers 2–3 mm long, the perianth white to pink or rose, rarely yellow as individual plants in north-central Arizona; achenes 2–3 mm long.

Continue reading

Eriogonum microthecum var. simpsonii

Plants subshrubs or shrubs, erect to spreading, not scapose, 0.2–1.5 dm tall, (0.6) 1–13 (16) dm across, white- to tannish-tomentose, floccose, or glabrous; stems spreading to erect, typically without persistent leaf bases, up to 1⁄2 height of plant, the caudex stems absent or spreading, the aerial flowering stems erect to spreading, slender, solid, not fistulose, 0.05–1.5 dm long, lanate, tomentose, floccose, subglabrous, or glabrous; leaves cauline, 1 per node or fasciculate, the petiole 0.1–0.5 cm long, tomentose to floccose or glabrous, the blade usually elliptic, sometimes linear to obovate, 0.3–3.5 cm long, (0.07) 0.1–1.2 cm wide, tomentose abaxially, less so or glabrous adaxially, with occasionally revolute margins; inflorescences cymose, compact, often flat- topped, 0.5–6 (12) cm long, 1–10 (13) cm wide, the branches dichotomous, whitish-lanate to brownish- or reddish-tomentose to floccose or glabrate, infrequently green or gray and subglabrous or glabrous, the bracts 3, scalelike, linear to triangular, 1–5 mm long; peduncles absent or more often erect, slender, 0.3–1.5 cm long, tomentose to floccose; involucres 1 per node, turbinate, (1.5) 2–3.5 (4) mm long, 1.3–2.5 (3) mm wide, tomentose, floccose, subglabrous or glabrous, the teeth 5, erect, (0.3) 0.5–1 (1.7) mm long; flowers 1.5–3 (4) mm long, the perianth yellow or white to pink, orange, rose, red or, occasionally, cream, glabrous, the hypanthium 1/5–2/5 length of perianth, the tepals essentially monomorphic, oblong to obovate, the stamens usually exserted, 2.5–4 mm long, the filaments sparsely to densely puberulent proximally; achenes brown, 1.5–3 mm long, glabrous.

Continue reading

Eriogonum microthecum var. cyclophyllum

I discovered this new variety, Eriogonum microthecum var. cyclophyllum, on July 23 th 2014 – north of Mount Shasta north of Highway 97. Once, taking the A12 cut-off to Yreka, I told Sofy, my wife, that I was sure there was a treasure around there to discover. Another day, going back home, I took some dirt roads from A12 and yes, I discovered a huge population of Eriogonum microthecum.

Continue reading