ERIOGONUM. Wild buckwheat. This is an immense group of western natives, encountered from coastal bluffs to mountain peaks and the desert floor. The following are shrubs with decorative, often woolly leaves and tiny, brightly colored blossoms borne in dense clusters. Sun, well drained soil, little or no watering when established. Hardiness varies.

arborescens. Santa Cruz Island buckwheat. A gnarled, tree-like shrub of about 5’, with attractive cinnamon trunks and narrow bluish green leaves. It is decorated much of the year by broad, flat heads of creamy flowers, turning rust-colored in age. 15-20^oF.

crocatum. Saffron buckwheat. A 1-2’ shrub remarkable for white stems and foliage and contrasting heads of chartreuse-yellow blossoms, opening from brown buds in summer and fall. It demands excellent soil drainage. About 15^oF.

fasciculatum. California buckwheat. The typical form of this species makes broad mounds usually 1-3’ tall, with clustered, very narrow leaves. The compound flower clusters are creamy white to pink, turning an attractive rust color in age and giving a rich, rusty glow to the chaparral in fall. ‘Dana Point’ is a recent introduction by Tree of Life Nursery. It is well branched and spreads to form a broad, dark mound of foliage, 1-2’ high. ‘Warriner Lytle’ is completely prostrate, making a broad, ground-hugging mat. Both are good candidates for bank cover. They should be hardy to18^oF or less. The variety polifolium hails from our interior mountains and deserts. It is similar in habit to the type species but has broader, often grey green leaves. Various forms now under trial should be hardy to 0^oF.

giganteum. St. Catherine’s lace. A striking shrub of 4’ or more, clad with large woolly, grey leaves. In summer and early fall it carries huge flat clusters resembling those of some giant yarrow. They are cream colored, turning rust red in age. About 20^oF.

grande var. rubescens. Red buckwheat. This is the latest accepted epithet for a familiar plant reclassified several times in recent years. It is a low, spreading shrub, usually 1-2’ tall when not in bloom. The leaves are fairly large, crinkled, medium green above and covered with white wool beneath. In summer many ball shaped heads of pink to rose-colored blossoms are carried above the foliage. 15-20^oF.

umbellatum var. polyanthum ‘Shasta Sulfur’. Sulphur flower. A beautiful grey green mound, growing 1-1½’ tall and about 3’ broad. It is adorned in spring by many round heads of sulphur-yellow flowers. Other, dwarfer selections are in and out of production. All may need some supplemental watering in hot summer areas. 0^oF or below.

wrightii var. subscaposum. It is impossible to hike the high Sierra without seeing and enjoying this little shrub. Sometimes it is so abundant that, from a distance, it creates a grey haze over rocky slopes. It lies close to the ground, sometimes mounding to a foot or so after several years. The stems are slender and (usually) closely branched. They are lined by narrow, grey-green to nearly white leaves 1/2" or less long. In later summer and fall it produces airy, often intricately branched sprays of tiny white to pink flowers, which take on an attractive rusty shade when they finally wither. This is a fine plant for rock gardens and sunny banks.