| Eriogonum callistum | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
|
Critically Imperiled (NatureServe) |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Core eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Polygonaceae |
| Genus: | Eriogonum |
| Species: | E. callistum |
| Binomial name | |
| Eriogonum callistum Reveal |
|
Eriogonum callistum is a rare species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Tehachapi buckwheat. It is endemic to the Tehachapi Mountains of Kern County, California, where there are an estimated 2000 individuals in existence.[1][2] It grows in rocky limestone soils in chaparral habitat among manzanitas. The plant was only described to science in 2006.[3]
Eriogonum callistum is a perennial herb forming a mat of woolly whitish green herbage on a woody base measuring up to 35 centimeters tall and up to a meter wide. It grows from a woody taproot and branching caudex. It is covered in rosettes of leaves each up to 5 centimeters long by 2 wide. The blades are coated densely in grayish white silky hairs.
The inflorescence arises on an erect stem up to 40 or 45 centimeters tall which is whitish and hairy when new and turns reddish as it ages. The inflorescence itself is a cluster of up to 35 flowers a few centimeters wide. The woolly flowers are pink-tinged when in bud and turn bright white when open. The stamens are tipped with yellow or pink anthers.
Within genus Eriogonum this is the only species in the new section named Lanocephala in subgenus Eucycla.[2]