Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Eriogonum sphaerocephalum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name rock buckwheat. It is native to the western United States from northeastern California to Idaho, where it is a common member of several habitat types, such as sagebrush. This is a small shrub or subshrub up to half a meter tall and wide, growing from a caudex and producing erect flowering stems. The woolly leaves are widely lance-shaped to somewhat oval and 1 to 4 centimeters long, and form basal rosettes around the caudex. The flower cluster arises on a stalk and bears many yellow flowers in a head-like cluster or umbel.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Size

1 - 2 ft Tall

Form

Mounding

Growth rate

Slow

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Color

Yellow, Cream, Pink, White

Flowering season

Spring

Sun

Partial Shade

Water

Low, Very Low

Soil description

Prefers sandy or loamy soils. Does not grow well in clay soils.

Plant communities

Northern Juniper Woodland, Sagebrush Scrub, Yellow Pine Forest

Bees
Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

2 confirmed and 23 likely

Confirmed Likely

Glaucon Blue

Euphilotes glaucon

Acmon Blue

Icaricia acmon

Mormon Metalmark

Apodemia mormo

Aroga paraplutella