Montana Field Guide

Mat-forming perennial from a spreading, woody caudex. Flowering stems erect, 2–6 cm, old leaves at the base. Leaves basal, crowded; the blade narrowly oblong, 1–2 cm long, tomentose below, sparsely so above. Inflorescence a compact umbel; bracts linear; involucres tomentose, 3–5 mm long with 5 to 8 erect lobes. Flowers 3–6 mm long, light yellow, fading to orange with a tubular base ca. 1 mm long; tepals sparsely hairy, similar in shape; stamens exserted. Achene 4–6 mm long (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Similar to Eriogonum flavum, which is almost always much larger in all parts, but the very compact form named E. flavum var. polyphyllum can be equally small and mat-forming. The only diagnostic character may be the perianth base, which differs from E. flavum in having a broad base, not a stipe as thin as the pedicel.

Stony, usually calcareous soil of exposed ridges, slopes; upper subalpine, alpine (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

POLLINATORS
The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap: Bombus bifarius, Bombus centralis, Bombus flavifrons, Bombus huntii, Bombus melanopygus, Bombus mixtus, Bombus ternarius, Bombus occidentalis, Bombus insularis, and Bombus flavidus (Thorp et al. 1983, Koch et al. 2012, Williams et al. 2014).