lsyama's Favorites

parsnip buckwheat, Eriogonum heracleoides var. heracleoides, Thomas Creek Canyon, Ruby Mountains, Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest, elevation 2375 m (7785 ft).

Uploaded from my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/

Alexander buckwheat, Eriogonum alexanderae with visitor, Wellington Hills, elevation 1615 m (5305 ft). Substrate is gravelly clay badlands.

This rare species is endemic to a small area of west-central Nevada and adjacent east-central California.

Uploaded from my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/

raspberry buckwheat, Eriogonum gracilipes, White Mountains, elevation 3130 m (10265 ft). In early flower, Just starting to develop its "raspberry" colors. Endemic to the White Mountains and a limited stretch of adjacent Sierra Nevada. Bedrock is carbonate (dolomite).

Uploaded from my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/

gray buckwheat, Eriogonum villiflorum, Nevada, Schell Creek Range, Sidehill Pass, Cave Valley drainage, elevation 1850 m (6065 ft).

Speaking of favorites, this little buckwheat has grown on me since I've worked in Nevada. It is endemic to lower slopes of the carbonate mountain ranges of the eastern Great Basin, in western Utah and eastern Nevada. It seems to be reasonably common within that limited range, but is easily overlooked, especially when not in flower.

Uploaded from my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/

altered andesite buckwheat, Eriogonum robustum, Nevada, Virginia Range, Geiger Grade, Steamboat Creek - Truckee Meadows drainage, elevation 1630 m (5350 ft).

This distinctive buckwheat is the signature rare species that is endemic to these peculiar "altered andesite" soils in the foothills surrounding the greater Reno-Sparks area of far western Nevada. Deep hydrothermal alteration of these volcanic deposits left behind sulfide minerals, which slowly oxidize to sulfuric acid as they become exposed at the surface. This creates patches of highly acidic (pH 3-4), brownish orange to white soils that are largely barren of vegetation. Those few species that evolve to tolerate these harsh soil conditions enjoy reduced competition from other vegetation, but in this case also become dependent on such conditions and don't survive anywhere else.

The same acidic soil conditions also allow a few species more common in the Sierra Nevada to survive on these isolated lower and drier desert sites. This often includes sparse woodlands of Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) and/or ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) -- visible here in the background -- that rise above the surrounding matrix of sagebrush and pinyon-juniper vegetation.

In fact Eriogonum robustum is closely related to Eriogonum lobbii, a common higher-elevation species of the Sierra Nevada, of which it was once considered a variety. (The two are fully distinct, however, with E. lobbii being a smaller species with prostrate stems and less branched flower heads.) At one time long ago, maybe during a glacial maximum, ancestral populations of Eriogonum lobbii might have occupied both habitats, and then become isolated and diverged genetically on these sites as the post-glacial climate warmed and dried.

Uploaded from my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/

Steamboat buckwheat, Eriogonum ovalifolium var. williamsiae, Nevada, Sierra Nevada, Carson Range, Steamboat Creek - Truckee Meadows drainage, elevation 1405 m (4615 ft).

Steamboat buckwheat is one of Nevada's two federally Endangered plant species. It is found only in south Reno of Washoe County, on siliceous sinter soils and deposits on the mound of Steamboat Hot Springs. Also protected by the State of Nevada, the species has co-existed more or less successfully with geothermal energy developments around the site since the late 1980s. Of longer-term concern is the cessation of sinter deposition on the spring mound when geyser activity stopped just prior to geothermal energy development, apparently due to regional drawdown of the shallow groundwater table.

Uploaded from my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/

Panamint sulphurflower, Eriogonum umbellatum var. versicolor, Schulman Grove, White Mountains, Inyo National Forest, elevation 3115 m (10215 ft).

Uploaded from my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/

Ruby Mountains buckwheat, Eriogonum kingii, Thomas Creek Canyon, Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest, elevation 2565 m (8410 ft). Substrate is mixed granitic and carbonate. This regional endemic is found only in six mountain ranges of southern Elko County and northern White Pine County in northeastern Nevada.

Uploaded from my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/

raspberry buckwheat, Eriogonum gracilipes, White Mountains, elevation 3130 m (10265 ft). Endemic to the White Mountains and a limited stretch of adjacent Sierra Nevada. Bedrock is carbonate (dolomite).

Uploaded from my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/

Sierra Nevada buckwheat, Eriogonum ovalifolium var. nivale, White Mountains, Inyo National Forest, elevation 3620 m (11870 ft).

Uploaded from my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/