Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate scrubland
Range: Western North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Common

About

A low mat-forming wildflower of western North American dry slopes, topped with rounded umbels of tiny yellow blooms that fade to rusty orange as summer wears on. Its flower clusters sit atop a leafless stalk rising from a dense rosette of woolly gray-green leaves.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Eriogonum
Species: Eriogonum umbellatum