[Buckwheats: The Genus Eriogonum in the
Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington]
Thyme Buckwheat, Thymeleaf Buckwheat, Thyme-leaf Wild Buckwheat, Thyme-leaved Buckwheat
Eriogonum thymoides
Synonyms: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum ssp. minimum, Eriogonum sphaerocephalum var. minimum, Eriogonum thymoides ssp. congestum
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Thyme-leaved buckwheat in bloom on scablands along What Road on Department of Natural Resources lands, northwestern Yakima County, WA.............May 31, 2024.
The photo at right of shows thyme-leaved buckwheat in bloom high on the east bank of the Columbia River to the north of Vantage, WA.............April 30, 2007. Notice the small whorl of linear leaves at mid stem.
Characteristics:
Thyme-leaved buckwheat is a perennial shrublet, forming mats
on the ground. It may range in height from 5-25 cm tall. The stems are erect,
with a whorl of leaves at mid stem.
The numerous basal leaves are linear to linear-spatulate, 3-15
mm long. They are whitish hairy below and less so above (See photo at right.).
The leaf margins are revolute or rolled under.
The inflorescence is a single spherical cluster with numerous
flowers at the top of the stem. The involucres are 3-5 mm long, conical in shape,
and tipped with 6-8 triangular teeth up to 1 mm long. The flower color ranges
from creamy to pinkish, to occasionally yellow. The flower buds may be reddish
tinged. The outer surface of the individual flowers are copiously woolly-hairy
upon inspection with a hand lens. The similar Douglas' buckwheat
does not have the hairy perianth, and has an involucre that is more bowl-shaped
with long, oblong lobes that are spreading to reflexed.
Habitat:
Thyme-leaved buckwheat is found on dry rocky soil of open ridges
to sagebrush plains.
Range:
Thyme-leaved buckwheat may be found from Chelan County southward
along the eastern edge of the Cascade Mts into northern Oregon, and eastward
into Baker county, OR.
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The photo at left shows a close-up of the flowers of thyme-leaved buckwheat in bloom high on the east bank of the Columbia River to the north of Vantage, WA.............April 30, 2007. The photo at right shows a close-up of the leaves of thyme-leaved buckwheat as seen at Wilson Creek, a BLM site along US Highway 2 in central Washington............June 25, 2006.
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The photo at left shows a nice mat of thyme-leaved buckwheat in bloom high on the east bank of the Columbia River to the north of Vantage, WA..........April 30, 2007. The image at right shows thyme-leaved buckwheat (left) and Douglas' buckwheat (right) blooming on scablands about one-quarter of a mile uphill to the west from Wenas Campground, Yakima County, WA........May 28, 2022.
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Thymleaf buckwheat as seen at left along the highway between Roosevelt, WA and Bickleton, WA in south-central Washington..........April 18, 2010. The photo at right shows thymeleaf buckwheat on scabland slopes on the north side of Dry Creek about one mile upstream from Wenas Creek, DNR lands in Yakima County, WA.....May 29, 2022.
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The photo at left shows a yellow-flowered thyme-leaved buckwheat beginning to bloom at the Quilomene Wildlife Area along the Vantage Highway west of Vantage, WA..........April 27, 2007. The photo at right shows thyme-leaved buckwheat in bloom along What Road near the DNR-Wenatchee National Forest boundary north of Cleman Mt., Yakima County, WA......May 24, 2019.
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The photo above shows a close-up of the hairy involucre of thyme-leaved buckwheat beginning to bloom at the Quilomene Wildlife Area along the Vantage Highway west of Vantage, WA.........April 27, 2007. The triangular-shaped lobes of the involucre are erect rather than reflexed downwards as in the similar
Douglas' buckwheat. The photo above shows a close-up of the inflorescence of thyme-leaved buckwheat beginning to bloom at the Quilomene Wildlife Area along the Vantage Highway west of Vantage, WA..........April 27, 2007.
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Thyme-leaved buckwheat in bloom on scabland about one-half mile east of the Odessa Craters, Lincoln County, Washington.........May 8, 2012.
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Thyme-leaved buckwheat blooming on scablands about one-quarter of a mile uphill to the west from Wenas Campground, Yakima County, WA........May 24, 2019.
Paul Slichter