WILDFLOWER HOME PAGE      SEARCH BY PLANT NAME    WHITE FLOWERS      CONTACT US

     The Eriogonum genus was named by Andre Michaux (1746-1803) in his 1803, Flora Boreali-Americana.  "Erio" is Greek for "wool" and "gono" for "knee", referring, according to William A. Weber, to the "wooly leaves and swollen joints of the type species".

     See more Eriogonum and  more  and  Eriogonum cernuum.
Eriogonum lonchophyllum

 

Eriogonum lonchophyllum
Eriogonum lonchophyllum
Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family)

Foothills, montane. Shrublands, openings. Summer.
Lone Mesa State Park, July 2, 2008and July 25, 2011.

Eriogonum lonchophyllum can be an abundant plant in its limited range in eastern Utah, northwestern New Mexico, and western and central Colorado.  Typically stems are glabrous and without leaves; flowers are clustered at the ends of the branching stems.  Basal leaves are clustered, long, narrow, and ascending (nearly vertical).  In the photographs on this page, E. lonchophyllum is shown growing in large numbers on Mancos Shale.

The plant can grow, as the top photo shows, to two or three feet in diameter and height.

John Torrey and Asa Gray named this plant in 1870.  "Lonchophyllum" is Latin for "lance-shaped leaves". 
Eriogonum lonchophyllum
Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family)

Foothills, montane. Shrublands, openings. Summer.
Lone Mesa State Park, July 2, 2008.

Range map © John Kartesz,
Floristic Synthesis of North America

State Color Key

Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state

County Color Key

Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Native species, but adventive in state
Eradicated
Questionable presence

Range map for Eriogonum lonchophyllum