General: There are a number of shrubby buckwheats (Eriogonum spp.) around Las Vegas, and most a difficult to identify. In many cases, the plant is a mound of evergreen leaves with persistent flower stalks held above the leaves. The flower stalks fork into threes, and the flower parts are in sets of three.

The buckwheats are a very diverse family with some 50 genera and 1,100 species ranging from trees to annual forbs. Some 21 species occur in the Spring Mountains, and there are even more in other places around Las Vegas. Fortunately, most are easy to recognize as buckwheats.

Shrub Buckwheats often are common components of vegetation communities from the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flat) life zone to the highest life zones around Las Vegas.

Common shrubby buckwheat species around Las Vegas include:

• Las Vegas Buckwheat (Eriogonum corymbosum)
• Eastern Mojave Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum var polifolium)
• Heermann's Buckwheat (Eriogonum heermannii)
• Yucca Buckwheat (Eriogonum plumatella)

Family: Buckwheat (Polygonaceae).

Other Names: Many species.

Plant Form: Usually an evergreen shrub with flower stalks and flowerheads that stand above the leafy parts of the plant.

Height: Usually less than 2-3 feet tall.

Bark:

Stems: Usually round, sometimes grooved or angled.

Leaves: Various

Flowers: Inflorescence: Cluster of flowers in a head on a stalk above the leafy parts of the plant. Flowers: tiny, numerous, yellow.

Seeds: Achene (like a tiny sunflower seed).

Habitat: Widely distributed across all habitats.

Elevation: From low elevations to high elevations

Distribution: Mostly western North America, but some in the southeast and northeast; few in the Midwest.

Comments: It is often difficult to make species-level identifications.