Carried by 42 nurseries
View Availability at NurseryData provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria
View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora
Sulphur buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum) is an attractive small perennial with cute spoon-shaped leaves and bright yellow to creamy yellow flowers. This species has many varieties. It may form a small clump with rosettes of silver-green foliage and flowers to 4 inches tall, or a sprawling shrub approaching 7 feet high and wide. It is fast growing and flowers in summer.
Sulphur buckwheat grows in full to part sun and prefers well-draining, rocky, acidic soil. It is drought-adapted, and an important pollinator plant, hosting a likely total of 37 species of butterfly and moth.
Perennial herb
4 - 84 in Tall
5 ft Wide
Rounded, Mounding, Spreading
Moderate, Slow
Evergreen
None
Yellow
Summer, Fall
Deer resistant, Lawn alternative
Full Sun
Very Low, Low
Max 3x / month once established
Easy
Tolerates cold to 0° F
Fast, Medium
Prefers sandy or gravelly soil with fast drainage.
Soil PH: 5.0 - 7.0
For propagating by seed: 3 months stratification; no treatment may give fair germination.
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
Alpine Fell-Fields, Foothill Woodland, Lodgepole Forest, Northern Juniper Woodland, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, Red Fir Forest, Sagebrush Scrub, Subalpine Forest, Yellow Pine Forest
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.
Butterflies and moths supported
10 confirmed and 37 likely
Mormon Metalmark
Apodemia mormo
Sheridan's Hairstreak
Callophrys sheridanii
Ancilla Blue
Euphilotes ancilla
Square-spotted Blue
Euphilotes battoides