California buckwheat

Description

Eriogonum fasciculatum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names California buckwheat and flat-topped buckwheat. Characterized by small, white and pink flower clusters that give off a cottony effect, this species grows variably from a patchy mat to a wide shrub, with the flowers turning a rusty color after blooming. This plant is of great benefit across its various habitats, providing an important food resource for a diversity of insect and mammal species. It also provides numerous ecosystem services for humans, including erosion control, post-fire mitigation, increases in crop yields when planted in hedgerows, and high habitat restoration value. Eriogonum fasciculatum is variable in appearance, forming a patchy, compact mat or shrub approaching 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in height and 2.5 m (8.2 ft) across. The stems are up to 25 centimetres (9.8 in) long, and may be wooly, hairy, or smooth depending on the variety. The leaves are up to 1.5 cm (0.59 in) long and 4 mm (0.16 in) wide, with a long, narrow linear shape, and the edges of the leaves (margins) are rolled under. The inflorescence is up to 20 cm (7.9 in) tall by 15 cm (5.9 in) wide, with 3 to 8 involucres that are up to 4 mm (0.16 in) tall and 3 mm (0.12 in) wide. The flowers appear in dense, frilly clusters, with each individual flower colored pink and white and only a few millimeters across. The fruit is an achene, up to 2.5 mm (0.098 in) large and lacking any hair. After the fruits are set, the dry calyx provides buoyancy to the detached achenes, assisting in their dispersal by wind and water. This common shrub is native to the Southwestern United States, California, and northwestern Mexico. It is found from the coasts and deserts of California and Baja California; eastwards through the Southern California Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges; and further east into the Sonoran and Mojave deserts and the Great Basin. It is also distributed into Baja California Sur south to the Tres Virgenes and Vizcaino peninsula. California buckwheat has been used as a food crop and medicinal plant by various Native American tribes. Some tribes would make tea from the leaves, stems, and roots; whilst other tribes used the seeds to be consumed raw or used in porridges and baked items. The Tongva, who call the plant wilakal, gather the leaves before flowering to make into a strong thick tea and grind the dried roots to use for headaches and stomach problems.