Sierran crest wild buckwheat

Eriogonum scapigerum Eastwood, Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 3, 3: 286. 1902; E. latifolium Smith var. scapigerum (Eastwood) S. Stokes

Plants 1-2 dm. Aerial flowering stems not fistulose, 1-1.8 dm, glabrous. Leaves basal; blade 1-2 × 0.3-0.8(-1) cm, tomentose abaxially, mostly glabrous adaxially, margins plane. Inflorescences capitate or nearly so, 2-5 × 2-5 cm; branches glabrous. Involucres 3-6 per cluster, 2-3 mm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent. Flowers 2-3 mm; perianth white, usually glabrous, rarely slightly pubescent.

Flowering Jul-Sep. Granitic sandy flats, slopes, ridges, talus slopes, and alpine fell-fields, mountain meadow and high-elevation sagebrush communities, alpine conifer woodlands; 2800-3800 m; Calif.

Variety scapigerum is the alpine expression of the species and occurs in the Sierra Nevada (Fresno, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Tulare, and Tuolumne counties). It is not always distinct from var. deductum. Reduction of both var. deductum and var. scapigerum into an already variable var. nudum could be justified, but limited garden studies suggest that the extremes are genetically fixed. Specimens from the southern Sierra Nevada tend to have slightly pubescent flowers, suggesting that these may be from populations of depauperate var. pauciflorum.