Santa Cruz Island Buckwheat, Eriogonum arborescens

About Santa Cruz Island Buckwheat (Eriogonum arborescens) 57 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Eriogonum arborescens is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Santa Cruz Island buckwheat. This shrub is endemic to the Channel Islands of California. It may be anywhere from one half to two meters in height and sprawl from one half to three meters in diameter across the ground. The stems bear narrow, fuzzy green leaves at the ends of the branches, each 2 to 5 centimeters long and sometimes with edges rolled under. The bush erects clusters of densely clustered, frilly flowers on nearly naked peduncles. Each flower is only a few millimeters wide, very light pink in color, with nine protruding stamens. The flowers turn brown as they age. The bark is red and ribbony. This is an uncommon plant in its native range on a few of the Channel Islands. It has also been planted as highway landscaping and in gardens on mainland California, where the shrub is not native.

Santa Cruz Island Buckwheat is easy to grow. Plant on dry, well drained shallow slopes or flats, and surround with plenty of mulch or rocks. It's extremely drought tolerant, and after the first two years should need no supplemental summer water. Even when drought-stressed in the summer, the plant looks beautiful, turning a beautiful silvery green color as the soil dries out.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Shrub

Size

1.6 - 7 ft tall
2 - 9 ft wide

Form

Mounding, Spreading

Growth Rate

Moderate, Slow

Dormancy

Evergreen

Fragrance

None

Flower Color

Brown, Pink, White

Flowering Season

Spring, Summer, Fall

Wildlife Supported

Attracts various birds and insects
Bird gardens

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 23 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Gray Hairstreak Strymon melinusStrymon melinus

Acmon Blue Icaricia acmonIcaricia acmon

The Brown Elfin Callophrys augustinusCallophrys augustinus

Mormon Metalmark Apodemia mormoApodemia mormo

Dotted Blue Euphilotes enoptesEuphilotes enoptes

Behr's Metalmark Apodemia virgultiApodemia virgulti

Bramble Hairstreak Callophrys dumetorumCallophrys dumetorum

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun

Moisture

Very Low

Summer Irrigation

Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries

Carried by 57

Ease of Care

Very Easy

Cold Tolerance

Tolerates cold to 10° F

Soil Drainage

Fast, Medium, Slow

Soil Description

Tolerant of sand and clay. Soil PH: 6.0 - 8.0

Common uses

Bank Stabilization, Deer Resistant, Bird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens, Bee Gardens

Companion Plants

Island companion plants include Santa Cruz Island Ironwood, Island Live Oak, Island Bristleweed, Channel Island Tree Poppy and Giant Coreopsis. Other chaparral and sage scrub companions include California Encelia, California Sagebrush, Bladderpod, and Ceanothus spp.

Maintenance

Usually not needed

Propagation?

For propagating by seed: No treatment.

Sunset Zones?

5, 7, 8*, 9*, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Natural Setting

Site Type

Dry slopes, bluffs, and canyons on Santa Cruz, Anacapa and Santa Rosa Islands, as part of the island form of chaparral and coastal sage scrub. The predominant atmospheric conditions are strongly marine influenced.

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 11.8" - 23.6", Summer Precipitation: 0.14" - 0.40", Coldest Month: 47.4" - 56.0", Hottest Month: 62.3" - 71.1", Humidity: 1.28" - 15.81", Elevation: 0" - 1688"

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Santa Cruz Island Buckwheat

Eriogonum arborescens

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Santa Cruz Island BuckwheatEriogonum arborescens

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Santa Cruz Island Buckwheat

Eriogonum arborescens