Steamboat Buckwheat

Eriogonum ovalifolium var. williamsiae (steamboat buckwheat) is a low, densely matted, compact perennial herb 2-18 inches (in; 5-46 centimeters (cm)) across. The above-ground portions of the plant arise from a shallow but stout, woody, reddish-brown taproot (usually in older plants) or a shallow, fibrous, rhizomatous root system in younger plants. Each plant bears numerous oval to kidney-shaped leaves congested in tight rosettes. Leaf blades are generally 0.1-0.3 in (3-8 millimeters (mm)) long, 0.2-0.4 in (5-10 mm) wide, and are densely covered with greenish-white to tannish-white hairs. Inflorescences are on erect, partly woolly stems that are up to 10 in (25 cm) long and are enclosed in cone-shaped involucres (i.e. a whorl of bracts subtending the flower) covered in densely-matted, woolly hairs. Five to eight involucres are clustered at the top of each stem. Flowers are generally white with a central greenish-brown rib, turning pinkish-tan with age. Flowering typically occurs from mid-May through June and seed heads remain on the plant through October (Reveal 1981, Williams 1982, USFWS 1995).