Nude Buckwheat, Eriogonum nudum

About Nude Buckwheat (Eriogonum nudum) 33 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Eriogonum nudum is a perennial shrub of the wild buckwheat genus which is known by the common name naked buckwheat. The plant is a tall, bare, leafless stem, bifurcating into more stems, each topped with rounded clusters of white or pale pink or yellow flowers growing up to six feet from a basal rosette at the ground, where the flat green leaves are located. The naked stem gives the plant its common name. Naked buckwheat can be found scattered around the west coast of the United States. This species has one of the widest ecological distributions of all of the buckwheats. It can be found at wet coastal sea level locales and the coldest, driest elevations of the Sierra Nevada, as well as many areas in between. The species is not uncommon, but some specific varieties are quite rare.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Shrub

Size

0.5 - 1 ft tall
.3 - .6 ft wide

Form

Mounding

Growth Rate

Moderate

Dormancy

Summer Semi-Deciduous

Flower Color

Pink, White, Yellow

Flowering Season

Spring, Summer

Wildlife Supported

Native bees, butterflies (including, blues, hairstreaks,and metalmarks), as well as many other pollinators. It is an important host plant to caterpillars.
Bird gardens

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 9 confirmed

, 39 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Acmon Blue Icaricia acmonIcaricia acmon

Blue Copper Lycaena heteroneaLycaena heteronea

Mormon Metalmark Apodemia mormoApodemia mormo

Square-spotted Blue Euphilotes battoidesEuphilotes battoides

Dotted Blue Euphilotes enoptesEuphilotes enoptes

Bramble Hairstreak Callophrys dumetorumCallophrys dumetorum

Gorgon Copper Lycaena gorgonLycaena gorgon

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun

Moisture

Extremely Low, Very Low

Summer Irrigation

Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries

Carried by 33

Ease of Care

Moderately Easy

Cold Tolerance

Tolerates cold to -15 - -10° F

Soil Drainage

Fast, Medium, Slow

Soil Description

Adaptable

Common uses

Deer Resistant, Bird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens, Bee Gardens

Companion Plants

California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), Black Sage (Salvia mellifera), Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), Eastern Mojave Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum var foliolosum), White Sage (Salvia apiana), Interior California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum var polifolium); Chaparral Yucca (Hesperoyucca whipplei)

Maintenance

Watch for rot in waterlogged soils. Leaf rusts may occur, but are generally not severe.

Propagation?

Harvest seeds from bracts in early fall. If directly seeding in the fall, no treatment is required, otherwise cold/moist stratification for 90 days will significantly improve germination. Carefully control weeds during the first year of establishment.

Natural Setting

Site Type

Exposed, sunny sites, including dry open places, rocky outcrops, along trails and roadsides.

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 4.8" - 158.4", Summer Precipitation: 0.14" - 5.80", Coldest Month: 17.8" - 54.2", Hottest Month: 38.9" - 81.6", Humidity: 0.23" - 32.91", Elevation: 3" - 13324"

Alternative Names

Common Names: Coast Buckwheat, Naked Buckwheat, Seaside Buckwheat

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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

Nude Buckwheat

Eriogonum nudum

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Nude BuckwheatEriogonum nudum

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Nude Buckwheat

Eriogonum nudum