Polygonaceae
(fuzzy and not fuzzy)
(fuzzy and not fuzzy)
I'm on a mission to learn the regional buckwheats as they bloom this year, because it's much easier to locate them when they're in full blooming glory. Calflora currently lists 256 spp./var. of Eriogonum. That's a lot of buckwheat, and it's all quite confusing. Fortunately, I'm focusing on the dozen or so found regionally from the central CA coastal area, inland to Pinnacles. So when the opportunity came up to visit San Bruno Mountain with Santa Clara Valley CNPS guru Ken Himes, I was ready to get my buckwheat IDs sorted. Turns out, the mountain in all its uniqueness has only one sp. of buckwheat, E. latifolium, locally known as coast buckwheat, and elsewhere described as seaside buckwheat. I found plenty of variation, from pink to white blooms, perfectly round to flatted pom-poms, fuzzy to green leaves, short stalk stature to reaching for my knees. I kept asking Ken, "Are you sure this is still coast buckwheat?" He laughed at first, but then I think he tired of my repeated questions. I still suspect there's some naked buckwheat (E. nudum) in the above with the flattened flower heads and greener, fuzzless top, larger leaves. In any case, I'm now familiar with coast buckwheat, and I hope I can recognize it even when it's not blooming. I found the low-growing, wavy-edged leaf shape with fuzzy underside to be recognizable, but not entirely distinguishable. It's a perennial herb. So, does that mean it dies after 2 years? Yes, I'm seriously asking.
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