[Buckwheats: The Genus Eriogonum in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington]

Thyme Buckwheat, Thyme-leaf Wild Buckwheat, Thyme-leaved Buckwheat

Eriogonum thymoides

Synonyms: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum ssp. minimum, Eriogonum thymoides ssp. congestum

Photo at right of Thyme Buckwheat, Thyme-leaf Wild Buckwheat, Thyme-leaved Buckwheat: Eriogonum thymoides (Synonyms: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum ssp. minimum, Eriogonum thymoides ssp. congestum)

A yellow-flowered form of thyme-leaf buckwheat as seen in shrub-steppe along Sixprong road just east of the Roosevelt Grade Road in eastern Klickitat County..........April 25, 2010.

Characteristics:

Thyme-leaved buckwheat is a perennial shrublet, forming mats on the ground. It may range in height from 5-15 cm tall. The stems are erect, with a whorl of leaves at mid stem.

The numerous basal leaves are linear to linear-spatulate, 3-10 mm long. They are whitish hairy below, less so above (See photo at right.).

The inflorescence is a single spherical cluster with numerous flowers at the top of the stem. The flower color ranches 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.


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 Cascades into northern Oregon, and eastward into Baker county, OR, and southwestern Oregon.

In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found at about 2700' at the crest of the Columbia Hills north of the Dallesport, WA.


Minute leaves of Thyme Buckwheat, Thyme-leaf Wild Buckwheat, Thyme-leaved Buckwheat: Eriogonum thymoides (Synonyms: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum ssp. minimum, Eriogonum thymoides ssp. congestum)

The photo above shows a rosette of leaves at the end of a short branch of thyme-leaved buckwheat as seen at Wilson Creek (BLM) just south of Highway 2 in central Washington......June 25, 2006.


Thyme Buckwheat, Thyme-leaf Wild Buckwheat, Thyme-leaved Buckwheat: Eriogonum thymoides (Synonyms: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum ssp. minimum, Eriogonum thymoides ssp. congestum)

A yellow-flowered form of thyme-leaf buckwheat as seen in shrub-steppe along Sixprong road just east of the Roosevelt Grade Road in eastern Klickitat County.........April 25, 2010. Older plants like this form thick cushions as thick as 6-8 inches high.

Thyme Buckwheat, Thyme-leaf Wild Buckwheat, Thyme-leaved Buckwheat: Eriogonum thymoides (Synonyms: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum ssp. minimum, Eriogonum thymoides ssp. congestum) - Thyme Buckwheat, Thyme-leaf Wild Buckwheat, Thyme-leaved Buckwheat: Eriogonum thymoides (Synonyms: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum ssp. minimum, Eriogonum thymoides ssp. congestum)

Thyme Buckwheat, Thyme-leaf Wild Buckwheat, Thyme-leaved Buckwheat: Eriogonum thymoides (Synonyms: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum ssp. minimum, Eriogonum thymoides ssp. congestum)

Thyme-leaf buckwheat getting ready to bloom along the Bickleton Highway at a pass near milepost 18 between Bickleton, WA and Mabton, WA..........April 23, 2013.

Thyme Buckwheat, Thyme-leaf Wild Buckwheat, Thyme-leaved Buckwheat: Eriogonum thymoides (Synonyms: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum ssp. minimum, Eriogonum thymoides ssp. congestum) - Thyme Buckwheat, Thyme-leaf Wild Buckwheat, Thyme-leaved Buckwheat: Eriogonum thymoides (Synonyms: Eriogonum sphaerocephalum ssp. minimum, Eriogonum thymoides ssp. congestum)

Several views of thyme-leaved buckwheat, from the Columbia Hills north of The Dalles, OR.......June 1, 1997.

Paul Slichter