Eriogonum umbellatum var. furcosum
Great Basin Naturalist 45: 278. 1985.
Subshrubs, spreading to rounded, 3–6 × 3–8 dm. Aerial flowering stems erect, 0.5–2 dm, sparsely floccose or glabrous, without one or more leaflike bracts ca. midlength. Leaves in loose rosettes; blade elliptic to oblong, (0.7–)1–2.5(–3) × 0.3–0.8(–1.3) cm, white-tomentose abaxially, floccose to mostly glabrous and green adaxially, margins plane. Inflorescences compound-umbellate, branched 2–4 times; branches without a whorl of bracts ca. midlength; involucral tubes 2–3(–4.5) mm, lobes 1.5–3(–4) mm. Flowers (5–)6–8 mm; perianth bright yellow.
Phenology: Flowering Jun–Sep.
Habitat: Sandy to gravelly flats and slopes, sagebrush communities, oak and montane conifer woodlands
Elevation: 1200-3000 m
Discussion
Variety furcosum is the common, compound-umbellate form of the species encountered in the Sierra Nevada of California (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Sierra, Tulare, and Tuolumne counties) and in the Mt. Rose/Slide Mountain area of southern Washoe County, Nevada.
Selected References
None.