Eriogonum molle
Eriogonum molle, known by common name as the Cedros soft buckwheat,[1] is a species of wild buckwheat endemic to Cedros Island, Mexico.
Cedros soft buckwheat | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Polygonaceae |
Genus: | Eriogonum |
Species: | E. molle |
Binomial name | |
Eriogonum molle Greene, 1888 | |
Description
A shrubby plant, the leafy branches of Eriogonum molle reach about a foot or two high. The leaves are oblong, and obtuse at both ends, and are 2 to 4 inches long, attached to petioles nearly as long, cinereous above and beneath, with a dense, short, velvety pubescence and altogether devoid of white wool. The involucres are few, many-flowered, and corymbose on top of stout, naked peduncles that are a foot or two long.[2]
Taxonomy
This species was discovered by Edward Lee Greene on a journey to the northern end of Cedros Island. He later described it in the first volume of Pittonia.[2][3]
Distribution and habitat
This plant is only known from the rocky, extreme northern end of Cedros Island, scattered along summits and ridges.[1] It shares a community with primarily succulent species, such as Agave sebastiana, Dudleya albiflora and Dudleya pachyphytum, all fed by the marine fog that frequently covers the northern end of the island.[3]
References
- Rebman, J. P.; Gibson, J.; Rich, K. (2016). "Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Baja California, Mexico" (PDF). San Diego Society of Natural History. 45: 133.
- Greene, Edward Lee (1888). "List of the Known Species of Cedros Island Plants". Pittonia. 1: 207 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- Oberbauer, Thomas A. (1987). Hochberg (ed.). "Floristic Analysis of Vegetation Communities on Isla de Cedros, Baja California, Mexico". Third California Islands Symposium: Recent Advances in Research on the California Islands. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara, CA.: 115–131.