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Sonoran Desert Buckwheats

Shrubs, perennials and annuals. Most have flowers with sepals/petals in multiples of three. Fruit also are three-sided. Sepals often pinkish or yellow. Many, many species, just a few shown here (for now ... ).

Wright's Buckwheat

Eriogonum wrightii

Flat-topped Buckwheat

Eriogonum fasciculatum

Pen & Ink Illustration © by Michael Plagens

Perennial or slightly woody shrub. Flowers pinkish white appearing spring and early fall. Leaves elyptic, silvery. Fairly common on rocky bajadas at mid to upper elevations of the Sonoran Desert.      Detailed Description

Pen & Ink Illustration © by Michael Plagens

Woody shrub at upper elevations of the Sonoran Desert - also common in chaparral habitat. Numerous white-pink flowers in flat-topped pincushion arrangement. Elyptic to almost linear leaves fascicled in clusters at stem nodes.      Detailed Description
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Desert Trumpet

Eriogonum inflatum

Photo © by Michael Plagens

Tall stems with inflated, trumpet shape support numerous, widely spaced yellow flowers. Leaves are all basal. Common along washes and on rocky slopes.   Detailed Description

Curly Dock

Rumex crispus

Brittle Spine Flower

Chorizanthe brevicornu

Photo © by Michael Plagens

Perennial herb emerging in early spring within mesquite woodlands. Large wavy leaves and uptight stalks of green and reddish flowers and fruits.      Detailed Description

Photo © by Michael Plagens

Annual herb emerging in spring after good rains. Small flowers obscured by set of six, hooklike bracts. Intricately branched stems becoming reddish and brittle.     Detailed Description

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Copyright Michael J. Plagens, 1999-2008