In case you’ve ever pushed by way of Southern California in late summer time, you in all probability are conversant in the rolling, brown hills that cowl the panorama, typical of the coastal sage scrub plant group. At this level in the summertime, wild crops haven’t seen water in months, and lots of of them go dormant to outlive this extended interval of drought. One in every of these crops, nonetheless, stands out amongst the ocean of brown. In case you look carefully, you would possibly discover a rust-colored shrub that dominates the panorama. That is the California Buckwheat, Eriogonum fasciculatum.
California Buckwheat is an iconic and invaluable a part of the coastal sage scrub. Whereas many crops on this group dry up in the summertime to outlive the interval of drought, California Buckwheat is an evergreen, with small leaves which are woolly on their undersides. The flowers are small and vary from white to pink, however once they dry out, they flip a stupendous rusty shade, which makes it a visually fascinating plant to have in a local backyard. California Buckwheat is taken into account a keystone species, boasting 260 native bee species and 105 native butterfly species that put it to use, in keeping with Calscape. Its ecological significance doesn’t finish there: it’s also an essential meals supply for birds who eat its tiny seeds or forage for bugs amongst its branches, to not point out the small mammals, reptiles, and different critters that take refuge beneath it.
California Buckwheat is within the household Polygonaceae, the Buckwheat household, which implies it’s associated to the buckwheat species that’s extensively eaten internationally, equivalent to in Japanese soba noodles, Russian and Ukrainian grechka, and Korean memilmuk. Though the California selection just isn’t explicitly edible, the roots and dried flower heads had been utilized in medicinal cures by the indigenous individuals of California (Ritter, California Vegetation).
The subsequent time you’re on a hike, maintain a glance out for California Buckwheat’s rusty flowers, and perhaps even see in case you can discover a butterfly searching for nectar or a chook foraging for bugs. In case you have a backyard at dwelling, contemplate including it to your backyard alongside companion crops equivalent to Purple Sage and California Sunflower. You could find this plant and lots of extra on the Los Nogales Nursery. You may also be part of us for habitat restoration to get to work with this plant and study many different lovely California native crops.
