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Montana Field Guides

Mat Buckwheat - Eriogonum caespitosum

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Species of Concern
Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S2S3
(see State Rank Reason below)
State Threat Score: No Known Threats
C-value:


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

External Links

State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
Rare in Montana, where it is has been documented from a few sites from Beaverhead County. Trends are unknown, though the potential for negative impacts to known populations appears to be low.
 
General Description
Mat Buckwheat is a low, perennial herb or subshrub that forms cushions up to 5 cm high. The alternate, oblong leaves are 10-15 mm long, including the petiole, have entire, downturned margins, and persist on the stem after withering. The foliage is covered with long, gray hairs. The numerous flowers are borne in crowded, globose inflorescences atop leafless stalks that are 3-8 cm high. Flowers arise from a solitary, cup-shaped involucre with 6-7 reflexed lobes. Each flower has 6 yellow and rose, petal-like perianth segment that are 3-5 mm long. The perianth segments are united below and taper to a hairy woolly base.

Phenology
Flowering in June.

Diagnostic Characteristics
The tapered, stalk-like perianth and the solitary involucre distinguish this species from other mat-forming Erigonum.

Species Range
Montana Range Range Descriptions

Native
 


Range Comments
Southeast OR to CA, east to central ID, MT, WY, and CO.

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 30

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density

Recency

 

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)



Habitat
Dry, stony limestone sagebrush steppe.
Predicted Suitable Habitat Model

This species has a Predicted Suitable Habitat Model available.

To learn how these Models were created see mtnhp.org/models

Ecological Systems Associated with this Species

Ecology
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).

Stewardship Responsibility

Based on the Montana Natural Heritage Program's latest predicted habitat suitability model

Total species' range in Montana 118,899 km2 (31% of Montana)
Area predicted to have
some level of suitable habitat		 17,391 km2 (5% of Montana)

Stewardship responsibility for the predicted area of suitable habitat can be broken down as follows

  Total Suitable Optimal Suitability Moderate Suitability Low Suitability
Federal 39% 5% 16% 18%
State 12% 1% 6% 5%
Local <1% <1% <1%
Conservation Lands/Easements 5% <1% 2% 3%
Private/Tribal/Unknown 43% 3% 12% 28%

See the Habitat Suitability for Biodiversity task in Map Viewer for a more detailed look at stewardship responsibilities within a variety of local jurisdictions.


Threats or Limiting Factors
STATE THREAT SCORE REASON
Threat impact not assigned because threats are not known (MTNHP Threat Assessment 2021).

References
  •  Literature Cited Above
  •  Additional References
  •  Web Search Engines for Articles on "Mat Buckwheat"
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Citation for data on this website:
Mat Buckwheat — Eriogonum caespitosum.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from