One-eyed wild buckwheat

Eriogonum ochrocephalum S. Watson subsp. chrysops (Rydberg) S. Stokes; E. ovalifolium Nuttall var. chrysops (Rydberg) M. Peck

Herbs, matted, scapose, 0.2-1 × 0.5-2 dm, floccose to tomentose, greenish. Stems matted, with persistent leaf bases, up to 1/ 5 height of plant; caudex stems matted; aerial flowering stems scapelike, erect , slender, solid, not fistulose, 0.2-1 dm, floccose to tomentose.  Leaves basal, fasciculate in terminal tufts; petiole 0.2-0.5(-0.8) cm, tomentose; blade oblanceolate to spatulate, (0.5-)0.7-1 × 0.2-0.4(-0.5) cm, densely white- or grayish-tomentose on both surfaces, margins plane. Inflorescences capitate, 0.5-1.5 cm wide; branches absent; bracts 3-5, scalelike, triangular, 1-2 mm. Peduncles absent. Involucres 3-5 per cluster, turbinate-campanulate to campanulate, 2.5-3(-3.5) × 2.5-3 mm, membranous, glabrous, sparsely floccose on teeth; teeth 5, erect, 0.6-1.2 mm. Flowers (2-)2.5-3 mm; perianth yellow, sparsely glandular, infrequently glabrous; tepals connate proximal 3, monomorphic, oblong to narrowly obovate; stamens exserted, 2-2.5(-3) mm; filaments pilose proximally. Achenes light brown, 2.5-3 mm, glabrous except for minutely bristly beak.

Flowering May-Jul. Gravelly basaltic or rhyolitic slopes and outcrops, sagebrush communities; of conservation concern; 1200-1400 m; Oreg.

Eriogonum chrysops is known from five scattered sites in the Skull Creek area of Malheur County. It is no longer considered a candidate for threatened status under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act. However, it still is considered a “threatened” species by the state of Oregon.