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Common name: Wyeth Buckwheat
Scientific name: Eriogonum heracleoides
Duration: Perennial
Family: Buckwheat family (Polygonaceae)
Habitat: Rocky, open dry sites
Blooming period: Midsummer
Color: Cream or yellow. Sometimes red-tinged.
Height: 12-18
Planting Time: Fall/Winter; 90-day stratification required

Pronunciation: Eriogonum heracleoides
(er-ee-OG-an-um hair-a-klee-OY-deez)

Other common names: Parsnipflower Buckwheat, whorled buckwheat

Blooms in early to mid summer. Attracts butterflies, bees, insects, and birds and is the host plant for several Palouse butterflies. Cream-colored flowers in umbrella-shaped arrangements. Flowers may have a pink hue, and when dried turn a dark pink or rust color. The dried flowers hold their color well. Leaves are grayish-green. Great rock garden ground cover.

Forage Value: This plant attracts insects important for the diet of sage-grouse. The seeds are eaten by chipmunks and mice; grazed by deer, elk and domestic sheep.


Historic Uses: Native American tribes would use this plant to treat rheumatic aches, sore eyes, and diarrhea.

Miscellany:
Eriogonum, from the Greek erion meaning "wool" and gonu meaing "joint or knee". This refers to the hairy or woolly joints that some plants in the genus display.

heracleoides, named for Hercules either because he may have used it first as a medicine or because his great strength and stature relates to the large size of some of these species.


Further Resources: USDA Plant Guide for Parsnipflower Buckwheat




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1461 Thorn Creek Road, Genesee, Idaho 83832

208.596.9122