Photo © Al Schneider, www.swcoloradowildflowers.com

Photo © Alicia Lafever

Photo © Al Schneider, www.swcoloradowildflowers.com

Photo © Al Schneider, www.swcoloradowildflowers.com

NPS Photo

NPS Photo

Corymbed Buckwheat (Fremont's Buckwheat)

Eriogonum corymbosum

Family: Polygonaceae – Buckwheat Family

Shrubs or subshrubs; clump-forming; 2” to 3.9' (0.7 to 12 decimeters) tall

Leaves: alternate and subbasal; simple; entire; can have hairs; margins entire; 0.28” to 3.6” (0.7 to 9 cm) long; 0.32” to 1.12” (0.8 to 2.8 cm) wide

Flowers: 0 petals; 3+3, petaloid sepals; 9 stamens; 1 pistil; small flowers in clusters; flowers white, suffused with pink, red, or yellow; flower color changes as ages – white flowers generally turn pink or red and yellow ones generally turn red to rust; flowers 0.06” to 0.18” (1.5 to 4.5 mm) long

Pollinators: bees

Fruits: achene

Blooms in Arches National Park: August, September, October, November

Habitat in Arches National Park: desert shrub, grassland, hanging garden, and pinyon-juniper communities

Location seen: park road mile 0 to 2.5, CourthouseTowers area, park road mile 11 to 12, Fiery Furnace

Other: The genus name, “Eriogonum”, means “woolly knee” referring to the hairs located at the swollen joints of many species of this genus. The species name, "corymbosum”, means “corymblike” referring to the flat-topped arrangement of the flower head.

This family's scientific name, “Polygonaceae”, is derived from the Greek words "poly" which means "many" and "goni" which means "joint", a reference to many species that have swollen nodes or joints.