Common Names: Skeletonweed, Flatcrown Buckwheat, Flat-top Buckwheat, Skeletonweed Buckwheat
Synonyms: Eriogonum deflexum
Family: Polygonaceae (Buckwheat)
Habit: annual Forb, herb
Size: up to 6 feet, usually up to 2 feet
Flowers: white, red, pink, green
Bloom: all year, depending on rain
Leaves: basal
Fruit: aschene
Description:
It is somewhat weedy where it is most abundant. This is an annual which varies in size from small patches up to 2 feet on the ground to tangled bushes approaching 6 feet (2 m) in height; it may be dense or thin and spindly. This is a brown or greenish weedy-looking herb with a many-branched stem. The leaves are located at the base of the plant and are rounded and woolly and one to four centimeters long. Small clusters of flowers appear at intervals along the branches with each flower only one to three millimeters wide and white or pinkish in color. The flowers hang downwards. The seeds germinate in the fall with other winter annuals, but they don’t flower until summer.
Distribution: AZ, CA, NM, NV, UT
Seen: NV (red rock canyon)
Habitat: sandy, gravel, disturbed areas
