Colorado Desert Buckwheat

Description

Eriogonum deserticola is an intricately branched shrub growing up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) tall and spreading to 3 metres (9.8 ft) or more in width.It has thin, gray-green stems coated in woolly white fibers. There are small oval-shaped leaves along the stem branches, but they are sometimes scoured off by the sand-laden winds. The stem is lined sparsely with small inflorescences bearing a few hairy yellow flowers each under five millimeters wide.This shrub is a host to the parasitic plant known as sand food (Pholisma sonorae). It is also host to an endemic jewel beetle, Prasinalia imperialis.