Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

ANNUAL ERIOGONUM

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Eriogonum annuum Nutt.

Russell County, Kansas

Annual

Height: 4-40 inches

Family: Polygonaceae - Buckwheat Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September

Also Called:

Umbrella plant.

Stems:

Erect, 1 to few, unbranched to ascending-branched, silver gray fuzzy-hairy.

Leaves:

Alternate, numerous below, very few above, short-stalked, oblanceolate, 1 to 3.5 inches long, less than .5 inch wide, densely woolly, 1 prominent vein; margins entire, often curling under; tips pointed or blunt; basal leaves frequently wither before flowering.

Inflorescences:

Cymes, open, flattened on top, terminal or terminating branches.

Flowers:

Involucres calyx-like, top-shaped, upright, less than 1/8 inch long, shallow-toothed; perianths tiny, white to occasionally pinkish, drying reddish brown, rising above edge of involucres, densely hairy inside, glabrous outside; perianth members 6, petal-like, in 2 series, united at bases; stamens 9.

Fruits:

Achenes, glabrous, pointed, 1-seeded; seeds small.

Habitat:

Dry, open, prairie slopes, waste areas, overgrazed pastures, and roadsides, on sandy or rocky soils.

Distribution:

West 3/4 of Kansas.

Forage Value:

Livestock rarely eat annual eriogonum. It offers no forage value for cattle and only fair value for sheep and deer.

Uses:

Native Americans boiled the plant and used the resulting liquid as a lotion to treat ant bites and mouth sores. They sometimes rubbed the fresh leaves on bison and deer hides to help tan them.

Comments:

The sparse foliage and dense hairs of annual eriogonum help it tolerate droughts.

Annual eriogonum