Eriogonum elatum
The photo at right shows a close-up of the involucel of tall buckwheat as it can be found at the crest of the Columbia Hills in the Columbia River Gorge.....................July 7, 2006. Note the triangular shape of the the lobes of the involucel.
Tall buckwheat is a large, sturdy wildflower, with large lanceolate or arrowhead-shaped basal leaves, one to several erect stems with no cauline leaves, and a two to three-branched open cyme. The leaves may be somewhat tomentose, but the plants typically appear to be mostly green. The leaves range in length from 7-15 cm long, with the petiole about equal in length to the blade..
The inflorescence is large, branched, and open. The flowers are typically creamy, pink in the bud, and aging to a red color. Typical tall buckwheats are as much as 80 cm tall. This is one of the easiest of the Eriogonoums to identify.
Tall buckwheat may be found from the sagebrush desert to open mountain slopes below 7000 feet.
Tall buckwheat may be found from north-central Washington (Okanogan County) south along the eastern Cascade slope to northeast California, found sparsely south to Mono County, California, and east to Idaho and western Nevada.
In the Columbia River Gorge, tall buckwheat may be found between the elevations of 100'-3700' from near Wind and Dog Mountains in the west to east of Horsethief Butte.
