Sulphurflower buckwheat facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sulphurflower buckwheat
Eriogonum umbellatum var. hypoleium
Scientific classification
Genus:	Eriogonum
Species:	umbellatum

Eriogonum umbellatum is a type of wild buckwheat plant. People often call it sulphurflower buckwheat or just sulphur flower. This plant grows naturally across western North America, from California all the way to Colorado and up into central Canada. It's very common and you can find it in many different places.

This plant can look very different from one plant to another, which makes it tricky to identify! There are also many different types, called varieties. Some can be small plants, like a little clump of flowers only 10 centimeters tall. Others can be large, spreading shrubs, growing almost two meters wide and tall. Its leaves are usually fuzzy and grow low on the plant. The flowers come in many colors, like white, bright yellow, or even purple. Long ago, Native American groups used parts of this plant for different medicines.

Home for Insects

The sulphurflower buckwheat is a popular plant for many insect larvae, which are like baby insects. These larvae, or caterpillars, eat the plant as they grow. Some of the butterflies and moths that use this plant as their home include the bramble hairstreak, desert green hairstreak, lupine blue, Mormon metalmark, Rocky Mountain dotted blue, Sheridan's hairstreak, Sonoran metalmark, and western green hairstreak. Besides insects, animals like goats and sheep also like to eat this plant.

Different Kinds of Sulphurflower

There are many different varieties of Eriogonum umbellatum. Each variety might have slightly different features or grow in specific areas. Here are some examples:

• E. u. var. argus - This type often has smooth leaves and bright yellow flowers. You can only find it in the Klamath Mountains.
• E. u. var. dichrocephalum - This variety is found across a large part of the western United States.
• E. u. var. furcosum - This is a low-growing shrub that lives in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
• E. u. var. glaberrimum - Also called green buckwheat, this type is almost hairless and has white flowers.
• E. u. var. humistratum - Known as Mt. Eddy buckwheat, this is a rare plant found only in northern California.
• E. u. var. juniporinum - This uncommon plant, called juniper buckwheat, grows in eastern California and western Nevada.
• E. u. var. subalpinum - This sulfur buckwheat is similar to another plant, Eriogonum eriogonum, but has wider, spoon-shaped leaves.
• E. u. var. torreyanum - Called Donner Pass buckwheat, fewer than 10 groups of this plant are known to exist near the Donner Pass.
• E. u. var. versicolor - This variety has flowers that are pinkish-brown with bright stripes.

Images for kids

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  E. umbellatum var. humistratum (how it grows)

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  E. umbellatum var. humistratum (flowers up close)

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  E. umbellatum var. hypoleium (how it grows, in William O. Douglas Wilderness)

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  E. umbellatum var. hypoleium (flowers up close)

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  E. umbellatum var. majus (flowers, in Wenatchee Mountains)

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  E. umbellatum var. subaridum (flowers, in Spring Mountains)