Sulphur Buckwheat
Eriogonum umbellatum · Polygonaceae
- Form
- Subshrub
- Height
- 4–16 in
- Sun
- Full Sun
- Water
- Very Low
- Blooms
- Jun, Jul, Aug
- Habitat
- Montane · Sagebrush Scrub
🌿 California native
Quick facts
- Habitat: Rocky Montane slopes; upper Sagebrush Scrub
- Form / size: Low mat-forming subshrub, 4–16 in
- Sun: Full sun · Water: Very low
- Blooms: Summer — sulphur-yellow aging to rust · Pollinator value: High
Description
A tidy, mat-forming mountain buckwheat with rosettes of small spoon-shaped leaves (often white-woolly beneath), sending up bare stalks topped by umbrella-like clusters (umbels) of sulphur-yellow flowers that age to warm rust-red and persist for weeks. A pollinator magnet and an important butterfly host across the high country.
Wildlife & pollinators
Excellent for native bees and butterflies — a larval host for several blues and coppers; seeds feed birds.
Habitat & range
Rocky, open Montane and upper Sagebrush Scrub slopes throughout the Sierra, Great Basin, and interior West.
In the garden
A tough, long-blooming, pollinator-rich mat for hot, dry, sharply drained rock gardens. Full sun, very low water.
Propagation
From seed (sow in fall) or division of mats; easy in gritty soil.
Where to see it near you
- iNaturalist — observed across California (map)
- Rocky slopes of the Eastern Sierra and around Big Bear.
Sources
Commonly confused with
California Buckwheat 🌿 Eriogonum fasciculatum a taller, woodier shrub of the coastal/cismontane lowlands; sulphur buckwheat is a low mountain mat with flat-topped yellow umbels (vs buckwheat's white-pink). 
