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Eriogonums are attractive plants
found abundantly in the Four Corners. Flowers are often
showy, colorful, and long lasting.
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. |
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Eriogonum
jamesii Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family) Foothills, montane. Meadows, shrublands,
woodlands. Summer. Eriogonum jamesii and Eriogonum arcuatum can be confused and, in fact, James Reveal, Eriogonum expert, indicates in his treatment of Eriogonum in the Flora of North America, "Eriogonum arcuatum has long been included under E. jamesii" In his key to Eriogonum, Reveal gives them separate species status. Stanley Welsh, Utah flora expert, disagrees with Reveal: "The concept of E. jamesii is restricted [in FNA] to those [plants] with white to cream colored flowers. Use of flower color as the basis for segregation seems to this writer to be superfluous, and [therefore I maintain] the traditional application of the name E. jamesii". The two plants are nearly identical in almost all of their characteristics and measurements; they are best separated, according to Reveal, by their flower color: yellow for E. arcuatum and white to cream for E. jamesii. In addition, although the upper side of the leaves of both species may be densely wooly-hairy, E. jamesii can be "thinly hairy or even glabrous". Note that the E. jamesii plant shown on this page is growing in a warm, moist environment and the E. arcuatum on the linked page is growing in a hot, dry environment. Thus the considerable difference in their appearance. In similar environments, the two plants are difficult to tell apart. Bentham named this species in 1856. Edwin James was a highly respected long-time plant collector. (More biographical information about James.) |
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Eriogonum jamesii Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family) Foothills, montane. Meadows, shrublands, woodlands.
Summer. This and the next photograph show Eriogonum jamesii's shiny, glabrous leaves and pale cream/yellow flowers -- characteristics that separate it from the otherwise very similar E. arcuatum. |
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Eriogonum jamesii Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family) Foothills, montane. Meadows, shrublands, woodlands.
Summer. |
Range map © John Kartesz,
County Color Key
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Range map for Eriogonum jamesii |