Eriogonum umbellatum variety umbellatum (Sulphur Flower)
Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family)

Foothills, montane, subalpine. Meadows, openings. Spring, summer.
Mesa Verde National Park, May 31, 2004, Mike and Mona's Five Springs Farm, July 14, 2010, and Mesa Verde National Park, September 26, 2010.

Sulfur Flower is an abundant, very bright addition to hot, dry meadows of foothills and mountains throughout the West.  Its numerous, long-lasting flowers start as red-tinted buds, open brilliant yellow, and then dry to oranges and reds.  Its small, vertical leaves form dense wide mats and change to reds in the fall.  The young plants at top left will eventually merge and spread, forming a larger and larger mat.

Eriogonum umbellatum is, according to  Flora of North America, "widespread and exceedingly variable...."   The discussion of the forty-one varieties of E. umbellatum takes up over eighteen pages in the Flora.  Nine of the varieties occur in at least one of the Four Corners states of Arizona, Utah, or Colorado but strangely none occur in New Mexico.  The  forty-one varieties differ from one another first in the arrangement of their bracts, then in flower size and color, leaf blade hairiness and shape, the upright or spreading posture of the plant, etc.  

John Torrey named Eriogonum umbellatum in 1828 from a specimen collected by Edwin James "Near the Rocky Mountains" in 1820.  "Umbellatum" refers to the umbel (umbrella-like) arrangement of the flowers.

Foothills, montane, subalpine. Meadows, openings. Spring, summer.
Fish Creek Trail, August 9, 2005 and Lone Mesa State Park, August 15, 2008.

Fading flowers have subtle shades of orange, red, and yellow.

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 umbellatum

Range map for E. umbellatum var. umbellatum