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Sulphur Buckwheat
Eriogonum umbellatum
  
About Sulphur Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum) 46 Nurseries Carry This Plant Sulphur Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum) is native to western North America from California to Colorado to central Canada, where it is abundant and found in many habitats.

This is an extremely variable plant and hard to identify, because individuals can look very different from one another. Also, this species has a great many varieties: This makes it difficult to generalize regarding its characteristics and requirements. It may be a perennial herb forming a small clump with flowers to 4 inches tall, or a sprawling shrub approaching 7 feet high and wide.

The leaves are usually woolly and low on the plant, and the flowers come in many colors from white to bright yellow to purple. Local Indigenous Peoples utilize parts of this plant for a number of medicinal uses.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Perennial herb

Size
Size
0.33 - 7 ft tall
5 ft wide

Form
Form
Rounded, Mounding, Spreading

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Moderate, Slow

Dormancy
Dormancy
Evergreen

Fragrance
Fragrance
None

Flower Color
Flower Color
Yellow

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Summer, Fall

Wildlife Supported
 
Buckwheats generally are very important for pollinators.

 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 10 confirmed , 37 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun

Moisture
Moisture
Very Low

Summer Irrigation
Summer Irrigation
Max 3x / month once established

Nurseries
Nurseries

Ease of Care
Ease of Care
Very Easy

Cold Tolerance
Cold Tolerance
Tolerates cold to 0° F

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Fast, Medium

Soil Description
Soil Description
Prefers sandy or gravelly soil with fast drainage. Soil PH: 5.0 - 7.0

Common uses
Common uses
Deer Resistant, Bird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens, Bee Gardens

Companion Plants
Companion Plants
Specifying companion plants is difficult due to the diverse parts of the state and variety of habitats where Sulphur Buckwheat occurs. Grow with Manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.), Ceanothus spp., Artemisia spp., and Sages (Salvia spp.), as well as many other plants.

Propagation
Propagation?
For propagating by seed: 3 months stratification; no treatment may give fair germination.

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Dry, open, often rocky places in a variety of vegetation communities including Sagebrush Scrub, Juniper or Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, Ponderosa Pine Forest, and Subalpine Forest

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 3.7" - 154.7", Summer Precipitation: 0.27" - 5.98", Coldest Month: 11.1" - 54.3", Hottest Month: 34.4" - 83.6", Humidity: 0.38" - 37.78", Elevation: 325" - 14460"

Alternative Names
Common Names: Sulfer Flower Buckwheat, Sulfur Buckwheat, Sulfur Eriogonum, Sulphur Flower, Sulphur Wildbuckwheat, Sulphur-flower Buckwheat, Sulphurflower Buckwheat


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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