PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Eriogonum
	Eriogonum compositum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Polygonaceae
Subfamily:	Eriogonoideae
Genus:	Eriogonum; Michx.
Species
	Over 250, see text

Eriogonum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae. The genus is found in North America and is known as wild buckwheat. This is a highly species-rich genus, and indications are that active speciation is continuing. It includes some common wildflowers such as the California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum).

The genus derived its name from the Greek word erion meaning 'wool' and gonu meaning 'knee or joint'. The author of the genus, Michaux, explained the name as describing the first named species of the genus (E. tomentosum) as a wooly plant with sharply bent stems ("planta lanata, geniculata").^[1] Despite sharing the common name "buckwheat", Eriogonum is part of a different genus than the cultivated European buckwheat and than other plant species also called wild buckwheat.

It came into the news in 2005 when the Mount Diablo buckwheat (Eriogonum truncatum, believed to be extinct) was rediscovered.^[2]

Ecology

Eriogonum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). An example of a butterfly that uses this plant for food is the Lycaena heteronea. Several of these are monophagous, meaning their caterpillars only feed on this genus, sometimes just on a single taxon of Eriogonum. Wild buckwheat flowers are also an important source of food for these and other Lepidoptera. In some cases, the relationship is so close that Eriogonum and dependent Lepidoptera are in danger of coextinction.

Monophagous Lepidoptera on wild buckwheat include:

Apodemia mormo (Mormon metalmark) – feeds exclusively on Eriogonum
- Apodemia mormo langei (Lange's metalmark) – only known from Eriogonum nudum ssp. auriculatum
Chionodes dammersi – feeds exclusively on Eriogonum
Chionodes luteogeminatus – only known from Eriogonum niveum
Euphilotes enoptes smithi (Smith's blue butterfly) – only known from Eriogonum latifolium and Eriogonum parvifolium
Euphilotes battoides allyni (El Segundo blue butterfly) - only known from Eriogonum parvifolium

Additionally, bees of the sagebrush steppe rely on the nectar of desert buckwheats, and birds and rodents eat the seeds.^[3]

Uses

Some varieties of eriogonum, such as California buckwheat were and still are used as medicinal and food crops by Native American tribes.^[4]^[5]

Selected species

Eriogonum abertianum – Abert's buckwheat
Eriogonum alatum – winged buckwheat
Eriogonum alexanderae^[6]
Eriogonum aliquantum – Cimarron buckwheat
Eriogonum alpinum – trinity buckwheat
Eriogonum ampullaceum – mono buckwheat
Eriogonum androsaceum – rock-jasmine buckwheat
Eriogonum angulosum – anglestem buckwheat
Eriogonum apiculatum – San Jacinto buckwheat
Eriogonum apricum – Ione buckwheat
Eriogonum arborescens – Santa Cruz Island buckwheat
Eriogonum argillosum – clay buckwheat
Eriogonum argophyllum – Sulphur Hot Springs buckwheat, Ruby Valley buckwheat
Eriogonum baileyi – Bailey's buckwheat
Eriogonum bicolor – Pretty buckwheat
Eriogonum brachyanthum – shortflower buckwheat
Eriogonum brachypodum – Parry's buckwheat
Eriogonum brandegeei – Brandegee's buckwheat
Eriogonum breedlovei – Paiute buckwheat
Eriogonum brevicaule – shortstem buckwheat
Eriogonum butterworthianum – Butterworth's buckwheat
Eriogonum caespitosum – matted buckwheat
Eriogonum calcareum^[6]
Eriogonum callistum – Tehachapi buckwheat
Eriogonum cedrorum – The Cedars buckwheat
Eriogonum cernuum – nodding buckwheat
Eriogonum cinereum – ashyleaf buckwheat, coastal buckwheat
Eriogonum cithariforme – Cithara buckwheat
Eriogonum codium – basalt desert buckwheat
Eriogonum coloradense – Colorado buckwheat
Eriogonum compositum – arrowleaf buckwheat
Eriogonum congdonii – Congdon's buckwheat
Eriogonum contiguum – Reveal's buckwheat
Eriogonum corymbosum – crispleaf buckwheat
- Eriogonum corymbosum var. nilesii – Nile's wild buckwheat, Las Vegas buckwheat
Eriogonum covilleanum – Coville's buckwheat
Eriogonum crocatum – conejo buckwheat or saffron buckwheat
Eriogonum crosbyae – Crosby's buckwheat
Eriogonum cusickii – Cusick's buckwheat
Eriogonum dasyanthemum – chaparral buckwheat
Eriogonum davidsonii – Davidson's buckwheat
Eriogonum deflexum – flatcrown buckwheat
Eriogonum deserticola – Colorado Desert buckwheat
Eriogonum diatomaceum – Churchill Narrows buckwheat
Eriogonum diclinum – Jaynes Canyon buckwheat
Eriogonum domitum^[6]
Eriogonum douglasii – Douglas buckwheat
Eriogonum elatum – tall woolly buckwheat
Eriogonum encelioides – Encelia buckwheat
Eriogonum eremicola – Telescope Peak buckwheat
Eriogonum evanidum – vanishing wild buckwheat
Eriogonum exilifolium – dropleaf buckwheat
Eriogonum fasciculatum – California buckwheat
Eriogonum flavum – yellow buckwheat
Eriogonum giganteum – Saint Catherine's lace
- Eriogonum giganteum var. compactum – Santa Barbara Island buckwheat
Eriogonum gilmanii – Gilman's buckwheat

Eriogonum gossypinum – cottony buckwheat
Eriogonum gracile – slender woolly buckwheat
Eriogonum gracilipes – White Mountain buckwheat, raspberry buckwheat
Eriogonum gracillimum – rose and white buckwheat
Eriogonum grande – redflower buckwheat
Eriogonum gypsophilum – gypsum wild buckwheat
Eriogonum heermannii – Heermann's buckwheat
Eriogonum helichrysoides – Strawflower wild buckwheat
Eriogonum heracleoides – parsnip-flower Buckwheat
Eriogonum hirtellum – Klamath Mountain Buckwheat
Eriogonum hoffmannii – Hoffmann's buckwheat
Eriogonum hookeri – Hooker's buckwheat
Eriogonum incanum – frosted buckwheat
Eriogonum inflatum – desert trumpet, bladderstem, Indian pipe-weed
Eriogonum intrafractum – napkinring, jointed buckwheat
Eriogonum jamesii – James' buckwheat
Eriogonum kelloggii – red mountain buckwheat

Eriogonum kennedyi – Kennedy's buckwheat
Eriogonum latens – Inyo buckwheat
Eriogonum latifolium – seaside buckwheat
Eriogonum libertini – Dubakella Mountain buckwheat
Eriogonum lobbii – Lobb's buckwheat
Eriogonum longifolium – longleaf buckwheat
- Eriogonum longifolium var. harperi – Harper's umbrella plant or Harper's buckwheat
- Eriogonum longifolium var. gnaphalifolium – scrub buckwheat or long-leaf wild Buckwheat
- Eriogonum longifolium var. longifolium – longleaf buckwheat
- Eriogonum longifolium var. lindheimeri – Lindheimer's long-leaf Eriogonum or Lindheimer's buckwheat