E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Eriogonum heracleoides Nutt. var. heracleoides
parsnip-flowered buckwheat
Polygonaceae (Buckwheat family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants
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Distribution of Eriogonum heracleoides var. heracleoides
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Species Information

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General:
Perennial herb or semi-shrub from a freely branched base, forming clumps or loose mats up to 60 cm wide; stems ascending to erect, simple, several, 10-40 cm tall/long, white woolly.
Leaves:
Basal leaves linear to linear-lanceolate, grey-hairy on both surfaces, the upper surface less hairy, the blades 3-10 cm long, narrowed gradually to the stalk; stem leaves lacking.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a compound umbel, subtended by a whorl of leaflike bracts; flower stalks usually with whorl of leaflike bracts at about midlength; involucres bell-shaped, woolly, 5- to 12-lobed, the lobes 2-3 mm long, at least half as long as tubes, reflexed or spreading; perianths white to cream or creamy yellow, occasionally rose-tinged, 3-4 mm long, 6-lobed, smooth.
Fruits:
Achenes, hairy above the middle.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry grasslands, shrublands, rock outcrops and forest openings in the steppe to lower subalpine zones; common in SC BC, rare in SE BC; S to WY, UT, NV and NE CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Eriogonum heracleoides var. heracleoides

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
Site Information
 Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum
Elevation (metres) 321 891 1982
Slope Gradient (%) 0 27 360
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W] 		0 190 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric] 		0 2 5
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class		 C
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:		 622
Modal BEC Zone Class
 IDF
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: AT(1), BG(106), ESSF(5), ICH(16), IDF(349), MS(21), PP(92)

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Flora North America treatment for Polygonaceae
 Flora North America treatment for Eriogonum heracleoides
Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
 International Plant Names Index
 Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
 Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Photo Sources

Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
 Google Image Search
 Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
 General Botanical References for BC
Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2025-11-10 12:41:14 PM ]
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