Desert, semi-desert. Openings, shrublands, canyons. Spring.
McElmo Canyon, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, April 27, 2005.

The swollen stems of Eriogonum inflatum make this an unusual and easily remembered plant.  Very tiny yellow flowers are often not even noticed except in years of unusually favorable rainfall when thousands of these tiny flowers give a yellow glow to sandy flats and rocky hillsides.  Plants vary from 1 to 3 feet tall and originate from a bright green basal rosette of round, crinkled, and slightly scalloped leaves.  Above the green leaves in this picture you can see three years of growth: 2005 stems are green, 2004 are reddish-brown, and 2003 are white (one stem piece is almost horizontal at the seven o'clock position). (The red flowers in the background belong to the lovely Penstemon utahensis.)

"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".

The Eriogonum genus was named by Andre Michaux (1746-1803) in his 1803, Flora Boreali-Americana.  Torrey and Fremont named this species in 1845 after Fremont collected it on his second expedition west in 1843-1844.  The explorer Fremont's name appears alongside the great botanist Torrey's name as a co-namer because Fremont, the wild explorer, had the gall to tell Torrey, the greatest botanist of his time, that "we" should describe the plants.  See the biographical section to read more about Fremont and Torrey.

Desert, semi-desert. Openings, shrublands, canyons. Spring.
Kane Creek Canyon, Utah, March 15, 2007.

The top-branching corymb pattern of Eriogonum inflatum is visible from far away, especially on a plant that bloomed as profusely as this one. 

Desert, semi-desert. Openings, shrublands, canyons. Spring.
Corona Arch Trail, Utah, April 13, 2005.

Flower buds appear at the end of very delicate branchings above the swollen joint.