Short-stemmed bastard-sage

Eriogonum kennedyi Porter ex S. Watson subsp. pinorum S. Stokes; E. trachygonum Torrey ex Bentham subsp. subscaposum (S. Watson) S. Stokes; E. wrightii var. curvatum (Small) Munz; E. wrightii subsp. subscaposum (S. Watson) S. Stokes

Herbs, loosely matted, 0.5-2.5(-3) × 1-3(-5) dm, tomentose or glabrous. Leaves: blade oblanceolate to elliptic, 0.5-1(-1.2) × 0.2-0.4(-0.5) cm. Inflorescences virgate or cymose; branches dichotomous, mostly slender. Involucres 1.5-4 mm. Flowers 2-3 mm; perianth white to pink. Achenes 2-2.5 mm. 2n = 34.

Flowering Jun-Sep. Gravelly to rocky, often volcanic or granitic flats, washes, slopes, and outcrops, sagebrush and chaparral communities, oak, pinyon-juniper, and montane conifer woodlands; 200-3400 m; Calif., Nev.

Variety subscaposum occurs mainly in the Transverse Ranges and the Sierra Nevada of California, with some populations in the desert ranges just to the east in west-central Nevada. The distinction between var. subscaposum and var. trachygonum is not always sharp, and some plants along the foothills of the Sierra Nevada may well be the latter. On the Transverse Ranges (and especially Mt. Pinos), var. subscaposum appears to merge with E. kennedyi var. kennedyi.