General: Eastern Mojave Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), formerly California Buckwheat, is an evergreen, low-growing shrub with upright leafy stems and flower stalks that stand above the leafy parts of the plant. Tiny white to pink flowers form clusters on the stalks. The flower stalks often persist after the flowers are gone.

California Buckwheat is a common component of vegetation communities along washes, upper bajadas, and rocky areas in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zone.

Family: Buckwheat (Polygonaceae).

Other Names: Wild Buckwheat, Flat-topped buckwheat

Plant Form: Upright, low and spreading evergreen shrub with flower stalks and flowerheads that stand above the leafy parts of the plant.

Height: Usually 2-3 feet tall; 5-feet across.

Bark: Dark.

Stems: Upright, thin; with many small leaves.

Leaves: Small (to 3/4 inch), long and narrow to slightly oval, numerous, evergreen; edges rolled under; whitish below.

Flowers: Inflorescence: Cluster of flowers in a head on a stalk above the leafy parts of the plant. Flowers: tiny, numerous, white to pinkish; aging to red.

Seeds: Achene (like a tiny sunflower seed) about 2 mm long.

Habitat: Dry, well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils on upper bajadas, canyons, and moderate slopes in the lower mountains.

Elevation: 3,000 to about 7,500 feet

Distribution: California to Utah, south into northwestern Mexico.

Comments: The buckwheats are a very diverse family with some 50 genera and 1,100 species ranging from trees to annual forbs. Several species occur around Las Vegas. Fortunately, some of these species, including California Buckwheat, are easy to recognize (at least to genus).