Eriogonum wrightii var subscaposum
Wright's Buckwheat
Found in much of the state, this is the dominant buckwheat in the area around Onyx Peak and Sugarloaf Mountain east of Big Bear Lake, towards the south into the Wildhorse Meadows area all the way to Highway 38. This is the buckwheat to look for if you're hunting certain mormo species there. It's a small, mounding plant that thrives on sun-facing slopes. E. wrightii is a perennial native that blooms in the summer. In Riverside County, var. membranaceum is common (as is nodosum); subscaposum is common north of the county line in San Bernardino Co.
Wright's Buckwheat - Eriogonum wrightii var subscaposum.
Eriogonum wrightii var subscaposum.
Here's a large patch of Eriogonum wrightii var subscaposum on May 28th, 2017. It flowers in the late summer/autumn. This was up Wildhorse Meadows Road, where I hiked the first couple of miles looking for any sign of the spring-flying Apodemia virgulti dialeucoides (I struck out - it seemed early in the mountains generally). Ten years earlier, in September of 2007, I found the fall-flying mormo here.
A view of Eriogonum wrightii var subscaposum showing the flower stalks with nodes.
A closer view of Eriogonum wrightii var subscaposum as they appear in the late spring without flowers. This and the two pictures above were taken the same day.
©Dennis Walker
