This buckwheat was common in shallow pans of decomposed granite soil. According to Calflora there are two species of yellow buckwheat in this habitat in El Dorado County, the Frosted Buckwheat (E. incanum) and the highly variable Sulphur Buckwheat (E. umbellatum). The subspecies of Sulphur Buckwheat in the area, the Donner Pass Buckwheat (E. u. torreyanum) lacks hairs on the stem and has a whorl of bracts around the center of the inflorescence; features missing on this individual.