Kittitas sulphur flower

Eriogonum umbellatum subsp. hypoleium Piper, Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 11: 238. 1906

Herbs, mostly prostrate, compact mats, 1-2.5 × 2-5 dm. Aerial flowering stems erect, 0.7-1.5(-2) dm, thinly floccose or glabrous, without one or more leaflike bracts ca. midlength. Leaves in loose rosettes; blade usually elliptic, (0.5-)1-2 × (0.4-)0.5-1.5 cm, glabrous on both surfaces except for fringed, pubescent margins and veins, margins plane, pubescent. Inflorescences umbellate; branches 1-2(-3) cm, without a whorl of bracts ca. midlength; involucral tubes 2-4 mm, lobes 2-4 mm. Flowers 4-6 mm; perianth bright yellow.

Flowering Jun-Sep. Gravelly to rocky slopes and ridges, high-elevation sagebrush communities, montane to subalpine conifer woodlands; (900-)1200-2100 m; Wash.

Variety hypoleium is restricted to Chelan and Kittitas counties, Washington, extending from the Mt. Stuart Range south to the Bald Mountain area west of Ellensburg. It is doubtfully distinct from var. aureum, although geographically well isolated